Pedro Leão Portocarro

Pedro Leão Portocarro (* probably 1576 in Vinhais , Portugal ; † after 1619) was a Portuguese author and traveler. He is the author of an important book on Peru in the early 17th century.

Life

Portocarro was believed to be of Jewish descent and was probably born in Vinhais, northern Portugal, in 1576. His parents Cristóvão Peres de Leão and Antónia Mendes were both targeted by the Inquisition and went through a trial in Coimbra in 1600 .

Portocarro stayed in Peru for 15 years, where he recorded his extensive observations of the landscape, towns, nature and society.

In 1617 Portocarro returned from Peru to Europe with the Terra Firme fleet. When he arrived in Seville , he was tried there by the Spanish Inquisition , which ended with his imprisonment. He was released in 1619 and then worked on his notes, which he brought into book form. Then his tracks are lost.

plant

Portocarro's book was published in 1620 under the title Descrición General del Piru, em Particular de Lima (German: General description of Peru, especially Lima) or Discriçión General del Piru and is written in Castilian , but with numerous Portugueseisms .

The Descrición is characterized by an observant-distant perspective and a utilitarian reader orientation.

The book is one of the most important sources on geography, economy, society and mentality in Peru in the early 17th century. The Peruvian historian Riva-Agüero (1885–1944) referred to the Descrición for the first time . The most relevant study, especially on the authorship of the hitherto unknown author, comes from the Peruvian historian Guillermo Lohmann Villena (1915–2005) from 1970.

The original manuscript is in the National Library in Paris .

literature

Guillermo Lohmann Villena: Una incognita despejada: la identidad del judio portugués autor de la “Discriçión General del Piru” , Revista de Índias, Bustamante, Madrid 1970

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006 ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 ), p. 790.

personal data
SURNAME	Portocarro, Pedro Leão
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Portuguese author and traveler
DATE OF BIRTH	uncertain: 1576
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vinhais , Portugal
DATE OF DEATH	after 1619

[dic-1] Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006 ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 ), p. 790.