Duarte Barbosa
| Duarte Barbosa | |
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| Born | c. 1480 Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal |
| Died | 1 May 1521 Cebu, Philippines |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Occupation | Writer, scrivener, explorer |
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Duarte Barbosa (c. 1480, Lisbon, Portugal – 1 May 1521, Philippines) was a Portuguese writer, an officer in Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516–1517 as scrivener in Cannanore factory) and an interpreter of the local language (Malayalam). His book titled "Book of Duarte Barbosa" (Livro de Duarte Barbosa) is one of the earliest examples of Portuguese travel literature, written c. 1516, shortly after his arrival in the Indian Ocean. In 1519, Duarte Barbosa embarked on the first expedition to circumnavigate the world, led by his brother-in-law Ferdinand Magellan. He died in 1521 at the feast of rajah Humabon on Cebu Island in the Philippines.
Duarte Barbosa was the son of Diogo Barbosa, a server of D. Álvaro of Braganza who went to India in 1501in a joint venture of D. Álvaro with Bartholomeu Marchionni, with the 3rd Portuguese India Armada, which was captained by João da Nova. In 1500 his uncle Gonçalo Gil Barbosa was left as factor in Kochi after traveling in the 1500 fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral, and in 1502 was transferred to Kannur. The places described by Duarte Barbosa suggest that he accompanied his uncle to Kochi and Cannanore. There Duarte Barbosa learned the local Malabar language (malayalam). In 1503 he was the interpreter of Francisco de Albuquerque in contacts with the Rajah of Cannanore. In 1513 he signed as clerk of Cannanore a letter to King Manuel I of Portugal where he claimed for himself the position master-clerk that had been promised. In 1514 Afonso de Albuquerque used his services as an interpreter in an attempt to convert the king of Kochi, as reported in his letter to the king. In 1515 Albuquerque sent Duarte Barbosa to Kozhikode to oversee the construction of two ships that would serve on an expedition to the Red Sea, in which he may have later participated under the new governor. Duarte Barbosa returned to Portugal where he completed the manuscript known as the "Book of Duarte Barbosa", finished in 1516 according to Ramusio preface, where he wrote detailed accounts of foreign cultures. Originally known through the testimony of Italian Giovanni Battista Ramusio, the original manuscript was discovered and published in the early nineteenth century in Lisbon.
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