Luis de Torres

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Luis de Torres (originally perhaps Josef ben ha-Levi Haivri ; * in the 15th century in Spain , † 1493 in La Navidad ) was a Spanish Judeoconverso . In 1492 he accompanied Christopher Columbus as an interpreter on his first voyage of discovery to America.

Life

Luis de Torres served as an interpreter for the Governor of Murcia . Because of his language skills, he was taken as a member of the crew on Christopher Columbus' first voyage to America in 1492. In addition to Spanish, Torres also spoke Portuguese , Hebrew , Aramaic and some Arabic . It should be used in discussions with the Great Khan . Torres had been baptized shortly before leaving. Contrary to the older opinion, he was probably the only member of the crew of Jewish origin.

When Columbus landed in Cuba , he suspected that he had found the residence of the great khan. On November 2, 1492, he sent Torres together with Rodrigo de Jerez and two Indians inland to make inquiries and establish connections. Torres and his companions returned after four days. They reported that they had received a friendly welcome from the local population who lived in large huts. They did not find any gold , but they found evidence of spices. They also said that the locals held rolled dry leaves in their hands "to smoke themselves according to their custom." Torres and Rodrigo de Jerez were the first Europeans to observe tobacco smoking .

Luis de Torres was believed to be one of the 39 men who stayed in Hispaniola on Columbus' return to Spain and founded the fortress of La Navidad. The first Spanish settlers in America soon got into disputes with one another and with the Indians . When Columbus landed on Hispaniola on his second voyage to America in November 1493, he found the settlement destroyed. All Spaniards, including Torres, had died.

literature

  • Juan Bta. Vilar: Nuevos datos para una biografía del judío converso Luis de Torres, intérprete oficial en la primera expedición colombina . In: Miscelánea de estudios árabes y hebraicos 44 (1995), pp. 247-261.
  • Alicia B. Gould y Quincy: Nueva lista documentada de los tripulantes de Colón en 1492: Luis de Torres . In: Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 90 (1927), pp. 541-552.
  • Meyer Kayserling : Christoph Columbus and the share of the Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries . Berlin 1894.
  • Cecil Roth : A History of the Marranos . Philadelphia 1932.
  • Christopher Columbus: log book . Frankfurt am Main 1992. ISBN 3-458-32176-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Torres, Luis de. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Volume 20, Detroit / New York a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-0-02-865948-0 , p. 59.
  2. ↑ See log book . Entry from November 2, 1492. pp. 90f.
  3. ↑ See log book . Entry from November 6, 1492. pp. 95ff.

See also

personal data
SURNAME Torres, Luis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish interpreter from Christopher Columbus
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 1493
Place of death La Navidad