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Martin Waldseemüller

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Martin Waldseemüller

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Also known as Martin Waldseemueller, Martinus Ilacomylus, Martinus Ilacomilus, Martinus Hylacomylus, Martin Waldeseemüller

German cartographer

Key facts

Born
c. 1470 , Wolfenweiler, Margraviate of Baden , Holy Roman Empire , (now Schallstadt , Germany)
Died
16 March 1520 (1520-03-16) (aged 49–50), Saint Dié, Duchy of Lorraine , Holy Roman Empire, (now Saint-Dié-des-Vosges , France)
Alma mater
University of Freiburg
Occupation
Cartographer
Movement
German Renaissance

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Martin
Gender
male
Place of birth
Schallstadt
Place of death
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges
Occupation
geographer
Languages spoken
German
Student of
Gregor Reisch
Field of work
cartography
Image
MartinWaldseemüller.jpg
Work location
Innsbruck
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Commons category
Martin Waldseemüller
date of death
1520-03-16
date of birth
1470-00-00
Commons Creator page
Martin Waldseemüller
floruit
1500-01-01
has works in the collection
Memoria Chilena
Sources (7)

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Encyclopedic overview

Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470 – 16 March 1520) was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Hellenized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. His collaborator Matthias Ringmann and he are credited with the first recorded usage of the word America to name a portion of the New World in honour of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci in a world map they delineated in 1507. The same map was the first to show the Americas as a distinct landmass clearly separated from Asia by the Pacific Ocean. Waldseemüller was also the first to produce a printed globe and the first to create a printed wall map of Europe. A set of his maps printed as an appendix to the 1513 edition of Ptolemy's Geography is considered to be the first example of a modern atlas.

Life and works

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Martin Waldseemüller” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (3)