Diogo Cao
| Diogo Cão | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | ca. 1452 Vila Real, Kingdom of Portugal |
| Died | ca. 1486 |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Occupation | Navigator and explorer |
| Known for | First European to explore the Congo River and the west coast of Africa. |
Diogo Cão (Portuguese pronunciation: [diˈoɣu ˈkɐ̃w̃]), anglicised as Diogo Cam and also known as Diego Cam, was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most notable navigators of the Age of Discovery. He made two voyages sailing along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of the present-day Angola and Namibia.
Cão was born in Vila Real (some say in Évora), in the middle of the 15th century, ca. 1452, the illegitimate son of Álvaro Fernandes or Gonçalves Cão, fidalgo of the Royal Household, himself the illegitimate son of Gonçalo Cão. He married and had four children: Pedro Cão, Manuel Cão, André Afonso Cão, and Isabel Cão.
He was the first European known to sight and enter the Congo River and to explore the West African coast between Cape St. Catherine (Cabo Santa Catarina) in Gabon and Cape Cross, almost from the equator to Walvis Bay in Namibia.
When King John II of Portugal revived the work of Henry the Navigator, he sent out Cão (probably about midsummer 1482) to open up the African coast still further beyond the equator. The mouth and estuary of the Congo had been discovered (perhaps in August 1482) and marked by a Padrão, or stone pillar (still existing, but only in fragments), erected on Shark Point, attesting to the sovereignty of Portugal; the great river was also ascended for a short distance, and intercourse was opened with the natives of the Bakongo kingdom. Cão then coasted down along the present Angola (Portuguese West Africa), and erected a second pillar, probably marking the termination of this voyage, at Cape Saint Mary (the Monte Negro of these first visitors). He certainly returned to Lisbon by the beginning of April 1484, when John II ennobled him, made him a cavaleiro (knight) of his household (he was already an escudeiro or esquire in the same), and granted him an annuity and a coat of arms (April 8, 1484 and April 14, 1484). On his return he discovered the Island of Annobón.
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