Juan Sebastián Elcano

Juan Sebastián Elcano (Elkano in modern Basque; also known as del Cano; 1486/1487 – 4 August 1526) was a Spanish navigator, ship-owner and explorer best known for having completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth in the ship Victoria on the Magellan expedition to the Spice Islands.

The expedition had orders to return through the Pacific Ocean, remaining in the Spanish hemisphere. Elcano's decision to continue westward across the Indian Ocean led to the circumnavigation. He received recognition for his achievement by Charles V of Spain with a coat of arms bearing a globe and the Latin motto Primus circumdedisti me (You were the first to circumnavigate me).

Despite his achievements, information on Elcano is scarce and he is the subject of great historiographical controversy, because of the scarcity of original sources on his private life and personality. Even in Spain, his first biographies were written in the second half of the 19th century, after three centuries of neglect.

Following his success, the king entrusted him with another large expedition to the Spice Islands, headed by the nobleman García Jofre de Loaisa, which was not completed. Elcano died of scurvy in the Pacific Ocean during this venture.

Name

Elcano's name has been written in different ways by historians. His signature seems to read Delcano, or possibly Del Cano, although it is difficult to be sure: Enrique Santamaría shows that his lack of dexterity when signing his name leads him to leave gaps between the letters, so sometimes he signed "del ca no".