António Noli

Antonio Noli (1415-1497 or possibly 1419-1491 [http://www.larici.it/itinerari/restodelmondo/capoverde/] ) was a 15th century explorer. He discovered some of the Cape Verde islands. In Italy he is known as Antonio da Noli and as Antoniotto Usodimare.

Noli was born to a patrician family in Noli, Italy. After he was exiled, he emigrated to Portugal, and was employed by Henry the Navigator. From 1462 to 1496 he founded and then was Captain of Ribeira Grande (modern-day Cidade Velha) at the southern end of Santiago Island.

It is uncertain which of the Cape Verde Islands were discovered by Noli. Some of the islands are mentioned in a letter of donation dated December 3, 1460; the rest in another from September 19, 1462. Noli has claim to discovering the first set of islands, while the second were possibly found by Diogo Gomes. However, the events in question are poorly recorded in documents from the time, and reasonable alternative claims to some or all of these islands can be made for Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso and Alvise Cadamosto.

During World War II, an Italian destroyer was named "Antonio da Noli". It sank after striking a mine off the coast of Corsica on September 9, 1943, the day after the Italian surrender to the Allies (see Navigatori class destroyer).

References

* [http://www.hig.se/~mnf/pages/Noli.htm] , "Noli, The Italian Bond", Professor Doctor Marcello Ferrada-Noli
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Cape_Verde.html] , "Cape Verde" at worldstatesmen.org
* [http://www.comandosupremo.com/1943.html] , "Events of 1943" at comandosupremo.com