Pinzón

Pinzón, name of a family of Spanish navigators who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the New World. The most important were the following two brothers.

(c. 1440-1493), commander of the ship Pinta in Columbus's first expedition to America. Historians are uncertain why Pinzón became separated from Columbus for more than six weeks, but Columbus later accused him of treasonable conduct. As Pinzón was returning to Spain, his ship was again separated from Columbus's command in a storm; he and Columbus, however, both reached Palos de la Frontera on March 15, 1493.

(c. 1460-1524), commander of the ship Niña in Columbus's first expedition to America. When Columbus's ship Santa Maria was wrecked near Hispaniola, Columbus joined Pinzón on the Niña to complete the voyage. Pinzón then led an expedition to Brazil (1499-1500), during which he saw the mouth of the River Amazon. In 1505 he was named governor of Puerto Rico. In 1508 with the Spanish navigator Juan Diaz de Solís, he sailed along the coasts of Yucatán (now in Mexico) and Honduras, and in 1509 he sailed along the coast of Venezuela.