Jean de Béthencourt

Born at château de Grainville-la-Teinturière (76) 1362-1425

French explorer and conqueror who in 1402 led an expedition to the Canary Islands, landing in Lanzarote and then conquering the islands of Fuerteventura (1405) and El Hierro, driving out the local leaders of the Guanches, the native people of the Canary Islands.

Jacques Cartier

 Born in Saint-Malo (35) 1491-1557

Mandated by King Francis I of France, in 1534 he approached the Gulf of St. Lawrence and explored the surrounding territory, which he named Canada.

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle

Born in Rouen (76) 1673-1687

Explorer-traveller, he traveled the Great Lakes region of the present-day United States and Canada, then the Mississippi River, and thus discovered the territories located between the Saint Lawrence Valley and the Mississippi Delta.

Christopher Columbus

Born in the territory of the Republic of Genoa 1451-1506

He is remembered in Western historiography as the "discoverer of America". Making his first trip a most important event, marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times.

James Cook

Born in Middlesbrough, England 1728-1779

 English navigator, explorer and cartographer

He discovered, in particular, New Caledonia on September 4, 1774, as well as the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).

Vasco de Gama

Born in Sines, Portugal 1468-1524

Famous for being the first European to reach Asia by sea, bypassing Africa. He also founded the first Portuguese trading post in Asia.

Fernand de Magellan

Born in Northern Portugal, 1480-1521

Enthusiastic about seafaring and voyages of exploration, he studied maps and logbooks from previous expeditions. A soldier for seven years, he proved to be courageous and intrepid, notably at the capture of Malacca (1511) and at Cochin.

Jean-François de la Pérouse

Born in Albi (81), 1741-1788

French naval officer and explorer.

Louis XVI commissioned La Pérouse to organize and lead an expedition around the world, to complete the discoveries of James Cook in the Pacific Ocean. He is seconded by Fleuriot de Langle.

Marco Polo

Born in Venice 1254-1324

 He is best known for his Book of Wonders, the contents of which reveal his adventures in the East. The book was written while he was a prisoner in Genoa. He left at 17 for Asia with his father Niccolò and his uncle Matteo. He served with them the Mongol (Tartar) Emperor Kublai Khan.

Amerigo Vespucci

Born in the Republic of Florence, 1454-1512

Italian navigator who was in the service of Spain and Portugal. Born in 1454 in Florence (Italy) His first name was used to name "America" ​​the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, because unlike him, Vespucci wanted to discover a new land.