Diogo Dias

See also: Dias

Probably born before 1450 and died after 1500, Diogo Dias was a navigator and discoverer Portuguese.

One knows only few things relating to it, the historical sources being only not very explicit about it. Thus, it is still not known if Diogo Dias mentioned as being the Traducteur of a letter of 1465 sent by the German chancellery to certain Alfons V. is the same one as the explorer. Moreover, in the various writings which relate to it, this last can be called Diego, Pedro or Pêro and its name to spell Diaz.

What is certain, it is that Diogo Dias left in August 1487 as a captain a vessel of provisioning with his/her brother Bartolomeu Dias towards the Cape of Good Hope. The pilot of this vessel was João of Santiago, which had previously accompanied Diogo Cão in its voyage to the river Congo.

As a chronicler and a writer on the vessel of Vasco de Gama, Diogo Dias took part in discovered of the maritime way of the Portugal in the India. Being responsible for recent the Counter S of Portuguese trade to Calcutta, it was made Prisonnier by the local authorities but managed to flee.

It took part then in the forwarding of Pedro Alvares Cabral towards India and belonged to the team which accosted in April 1500 with the current Brésil. Because of a strong storm, its vessel was separated from the fleet of Pedro Alvarez Cabral in May 1500 on the level of the Cape of Good Hope. Its boat thus explored water of the Indian Ocean at the entry of the Red Sea.

Later, he was perhaps the first European to discover around July 1500 the islands of the Réunion and Maurice, both in the east of Madagascar. Until their departure in 1575, the Portuguese used these two islands like stations of supply out of water and provisions for their boats on the way for Goa in India and Malakka in current the Thailand.

He was also the first European to see Madagascar the August 10th 1500 and called the island Sao Lorenço. After that, it went back to Portugal by circumventing the Mozambique, on the east coast of Africa. To broad from Cape Verde, it fell by chance on the four boats from the preceding Indian forwarding from Pedro Alvares Cabral, who was like him on the return.

Exact Ladate and the place of its death remains unknown.

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