Ramusio, Giovanni Battista

Ramusio, Giovanni Battista

 

Born 1485 in Treviso; died 1557 in Padua. Italian geographer, historian, and state figure (in Venice).

Ramusio collected documents on the discoveries primarily of Italian travelers and explorers, including Marco Polo and N. de Conti. He also collected documents on Spanish and Portuguese explorers. He summarized all these documents in Delle navigationi et viaggi (Voyages and Travels); vol. 1, 1550; vol. 3, 1556; vol. 2, published posthumously 1559), a valuable source work on the history of the geographical discoveries and explorations in Asia, Africa, and America.