Museo Galileo
italiano
Virtual Museum
Vasco da Gama
1469 ?-1524
Vasco da Gama

Portuguese navigator of noble descent, first to reach India by sea via the Cape of Good Hope in 1498. His voyage marked the start of Portugal's flourishing trade with India. Undertook many other voyages to the East. In 1524, John III (1502-1557), King of Portugal, named him Viceroy of the Indies, but da Gama died a few months later in Cochin (India).