Leo Africanus

Johannes Leo Africanus, maiden name: arabic الحسن بن محمد الوزان الفاسي, DMG al - Ḥasan b. Muhammed al - Wazzan al - Fasi (* 1490 in Granada, † after 1550 in Tunis ) was a traveler and geographer Berber descent.

Life

Leo Africanus was born about 1494 in Granada, but his family moved soon after his birth to Fez. There he studied as a young man at the Qaraouyin University and from there he accompanied his uncle on his diplomatic trips to neighboring countries, where he also visited Timbuktu.

Itinerary

He traveled from Morocco, the Sahara and the Sudan and published his findings in his work Descrittione dell'Africa ( German: " Description of Africa" ​​), which was the standard work on this part of Africa in Europe for centuries. The work described above all the wealth and splendor of the Songhai Empire and describes the wealth of the caravan city of Timbuktu, so it sparked the imaginations of Europeans until the early 19th century. Two and a half centuries after it was first published, it piqued the interest of the countries exporting to overseas and sat thus indirectly the scientific research on Africa (since 1790 ) in transition. The work was as a geographical source obsolete by the explorations of European explorers such as Mungo Park, René Caillié and Heinrich Barth. Barth, who had visited even large parts of the country described by Leo Africanus personally, should issue an annotated translation for the Hakluyt Society renowned, but was prevented by his sudden death in 1865 at the completion. The issues that were published at the end of the 19th century by order of the Hakluyt Society and the mid-20th century by French scientists, were based on the printed editions of the 16th century, but has been heavily revised by the editor Ramusio against the original manuscript were. Many of the myths from the immeasurable wealth of Timbuktu went back to the mistranslation by the Italian publishers, such as Dietrich Rauchenberger could find in the study of original manuscripts.

Stay in Italy in 1518 - about 1530

Leo Africanus was captured in 1518 by Genoese corsairs and sold into slavery. He lived for many years in Rome under the auspices of Pope Leo X, where he converted to Christianity. His started in Arabic ' Description of Africa, " he finished, therefore, also in Italian. The exact year of completion is not known, since the work was not originally intended for publication.

Last year in North Africa: about 1530 - about 1537

According to the traditional view Leo went back to Tunis in 1530 and turned back to Islam. This date is based on speculation and is related to the appearance of the first printed version of his travel work together this year. The German Orientalist Dietrich Rauchenberger assumes that Leo already left Rome in 1530, because after that there is no evidence of his presence in Italy. Perhaps the scholar died later on Italian soil at one of the diseases that broke out in the wake of raging on the peninsula war. In North Africa, in any case, there are no documents confirming his presence in Tunis or one of the other cities on the North African Mediterranean coast. However, some authors suggest that Leo spent the last years of his life in Fez, where he died in 1537.

Legends around the person of Leo Africanus

The shape of Leo Africanus is controversial, in some theories, its existence is even made ​​entirely in question. Thus, inter alia, claimed that his work was written by a Venetian ghostwriter since Venetian merchants must have operated since the 12th century trade with North Africa and collected a lot of information in this way. However, this is contradicted by detailed autobiographical comments in the Descrittione dell'Africa. Generally Leo Africanus as a real historical person, but it is obvious that due to his fame and his centuries-long monopoly numerous myths and legends have grown up around his person in African geography. Known relative was Leo as a person through the translated into many languages ​​novel of Lebanese Amin Maalouf ( see below).