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Willem Barents

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Willem Barents

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Also known as Willem Barentsz, William Barents, William Barentz, Willem Barentz, Barentz, Willem Barentszoon, Willem Barentzoon

Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer (1550–1597)

AI overview

Willem Barents was a Dutch navigator and cartographer who explored the Arctic region in the late 1500s, making important contributions to mapping previously uncharted northern territories. He matters because his voyages and detailed charts advanced European knowledge of Arctic geography and navigation, even though his expeditions faced extreme hardship from ice and cold.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Willem
Gender
male
Citizenship
Holy Roman Empire
Place of birth
Formerum
Place of death
Novaya Zemlya
Languages spoken
Dutch
Native language
Dutch
Image
Willem Barents (1883).png
Residence
Terschelling
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Commons category
Willem Barentsz
date of death
1597-06-20
date of birth
1550-00-00
Commons gallery
Willem Barentsz
cause of death
scurvy
manner of death
natural causes
name in native language
Willem Barentsz
has works in the collection
Het Scheepvaartmuseum
Sources (3)

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Encyclopedic overview

Willem Barentsz ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm ˈbaːrənts]; c. 1550 – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer.

Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northeast passage. He reached as far as Novaya Zemlya and the Kara Sea in his first two voyages, but was turned back on both occasions by ice. During a third expedition, the crew discovered Spitsbergen and Bear Island, but subsequently became stranded on Novaya Zemlya for almost a year. Barentsz died on the return voyage in 1597.

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

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