DIAS, BARTHOLOMEU. — Navigator, born around 1450. Commissioned by the king of Portugal to explore the western African coast, and having set out in 1486 or ’87, he was the first to reach Cabo Tormentoso (later named the Cape of Good Hope).
After Vasco de Gama’s voyage, the fleet commanded by Pedro Alvares Cabral, of which D. was a member, undertook new explorations in March 1500: an extremely violent storm sank four ships, including D.’s (29 May 1500).
BIBL.: J. N. L. Baker, Histoire des découvertes géographiques et des explorations, French translation, Paris 1949, chap. 4.