Leo Africanus

Joannes Leo Africanus was the Latin name of Hasan bin Muhammed al-Wazzan al-Fasi (Granada 1488? – 1554?). Africanus was born in Granada. His family left that city some time after the Christian conquest of the Muslim kingdom in 1492.

The family settled in Fez, Morocco, where Leo studied at the University of Al Karaouine. As a young man he accompanied his uncle on a diplomatic mission in the Maghreb, reaching as far as the city of Timbuktu (c. 1510), then part of the Songhai Empire. While still a young man, he was captured by European pirates somewhere in the Mediterranean (either on the island of Djerba or Crete), and sold into slavery. Presented to Pope Leo X, he was baptized and freed. The Pope, recognizing his abilities, asked him to put together a survey of his knowledge of the continent of Africa. For many years he was the only known source of information on Sudan.

At the time he visited the city of Timbuktu, it was somewhat past its peak, but still a thriving Islamic city famous for its learning. Timbuktu was to become a byword in Europe as the most inaccessible of cities, but at the time Leo visited, it was the center of a busy trade carried on by traders in African products, gold, printed cottons and slaves, and in Islamic books. Leo is said to have died in 1554 in Tunis, having reconverted to Islam.

Most of Leo's life is a mystery, and can only be gleaned from references in his book, Cosmographia Dell’ Africa (Description of Africa).

In fiction

A fictionalized account of his life, Leo Africanus, by Amin Maalouf, fills in key gaps in the story and places Leo Africanus in all of the prominent events of his time.

External links

• A summary of Leo's life
• Biography of Leo Africanus and links on him
• Natalie Zemon Davis, Trickster Travels, New York: Hill & Wang, 2006
• Hassan Al Wazzan aka Leo Africanus