Many of us know that our country was named after Amerigo Vespucci even though he did not set foot on what was once referred to as the “New World” until after Columbus. Who is this man and why does America bear his name?

Amerigo was born in Florence on March 9, 1451. He was the third son born to Nastagio Vespucci and Lisa di Giovanni Mini. While his two older brothers went to the University of Pisa, he was tutored by his uncle Giorgio, a Dominican friar in the monastery of San Marco.