ANTONIO PIAFETTA. — Navigator belonging to a noble Vicentine family, born around 1480 or perhaps a few years later. Nothing is known of him until 1519, when he is found attached to the person of Francesco Chiericati, his fellow citizen, apostolic nuncio to Charles V; it is possible that he had previously entered the Order of Knights of Rhodes and may have traveled on the galleys of the Order. In Barcelona he learned that Ferdinand Magellan was preparing his great expedition and obtained permission to be enrolled as attached to the person of the commander; he was in fact always at his side and accompanied him in the tragic expedition to Mactan in the Philippines, where Magellan met his death, while P. escaped because, due to a wound previously received, he could not go ashore. After Magellan’s death he gained greater authority aboard the ship *Victoria*, the only survivor, and was one of the 18 who returned unharmed to Lisbon.
On his return to Italy, he set about publishing the account of the voyage, of which he had kept a careful day-to-day diary; he was in Mantua at the court of the Gonzagas, then in Venice, where before the Doge and the College he gave an interesting account of the voyage (1523), and then was summoned to Rome by Clement VII, who had the manuscript in his possession intended for publication. In 1524 P. was in Venice and obtained the privilege for printing his book. After 1524 every trace of P. is lost. A recent hypothesis that he entered the service of the Sultan in Constantinople and ended his days there is not without plausibility, but is not supported by documents. He was certainly already dead by 1536. The first edition of the work is in French and undated; but it is certain that the account was written in Italian; the first Italian edition (v. infra) is of 1536; it is followed by the Ramusio edition of 1550. The original manuscript is unknown. P.’s account is the fullest and most authoritative possessed on the first circumnavigation of the globe, not for itinerary, nautical or technical data, but for the details of the eventful voyage, the description of the countries, their inhabitants, their customs and usages, their products, etc. P. reveals a good education and keen powers of observation. He is also the author of a short treatise on the art of navigation of modest value.