- Lourenço Marques
Lourenço Marques was a
16th century Portuguese trader.Biography
He explored the area that is now
Maputo Bay in1544 . He settled permanently in present-day Mozambique, where he spent most of his life with his black wife and mixed-race children. By order of King John III the bay was named Baia de Lourenço Marques in his honor, although this name was never in common use.Other uses
Maputo , the capital city ofMozambique , was named after him before Mozambique became independent from Portugal in1975 ; it got its present name on 3 February 1976. It was the seat of thegovernor-general ofPortuguese East Africa and gave its name to one of the six districts into which that colonial province was divided.ources and references
*Harm J. De Blij, "The Functional Structure and Central Business District of Lourenco Marques, Mocambique", "Economic Geography", Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 56-77.
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12311a.htm Catholic Encyclopaedia]
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mozambique.htm WorldStatesmen- Mozambique]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
