Alessandro Malaspina (also found as Alexandro and Alejandro) (1754 - 1810) was a Spanish naval officer and explorer. Under a royal commission, he undertook a scientific expedition around the world in 1789, and explored the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of Spains' North American possessions. 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search World map showing North America (geographically) A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and...

Malaspina was born on November 5, 1754 in Mulazzo, modern-day Tuscany, which at the time was part of the Holy Roman Empire. His parents were the Marquis Carlo Morello and Caterina Meli Lupi di Soragna. During 1762-1765, his family lived in Palermo with his uncle, the viceroy of Sicily. In 1765-1773 he studied in Spain's Royal Naval Academy in Cádiz and Clementine College in Rome. He was accepted into the Order of Malta and learned sailing. In 1774, he joined the Royal Navy of Spain. Jump to: navigation, search November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Jump to: navigation, search This page is about the Germanic empire. ... Marquis has many different meanings: Don Marquis was a writer, poet, and journalist. ... City nickname: Location Location of Palermo within the island of Sicily. ... A viceroy is somebody who governs a country or province as a substitute for the monarch. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ... The Knights Hospitaller (the or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century based in the Holy Land, but soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order under its own charter, and was charged with the care...

In January 1775 Malaspina took part of the expedition to help Melilla, which was under siege by Moroccans and later participated the siege of Algiers. In 1777-1779, aboard the frigate Astrea, he made a round trip voyage to the Philippines. In January 1780 he was in the battle of Cape Santa Maria. In 1782 he was denounced to the Spanish inquisition, as suspected of heresy, but was not apprehended. The same September he was in the attempt to take Gibraltar and in December in the fighting in Cape Espartel. In 1783-1784 he undertook a second voyage to the Philippines. Melilla is a Spanish exclave in North Africa, located on the northernmost tip of Maghreb, on the Mediterranean coast. ... Algiers Algiers (French Alger, (Arabic: ولاية الجزائر ) El-Jezair, i. ... For the battle of the French Revolutionary Wars, see Battle of Cape St. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Spanish Inquisition was the Inquisition acting in Spain under the control of the Kings of Spain. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ...

In 1785 Malaspina turned to hydrographic surveys on some areas of the Spanish coast. From 1786 to May 1788 he made a commercial circumnavigation on behalf of the Royal Philippine Company.

Voyages of Exploration

In September 1788 Malaspina joined forces with José de Bustamante y Guerra and together they approached the Spanish government to organize a expedition to visit the Spanish possessions in America and Asia. The expeditions of two specifically built corvettes, Descubierta and Atrevida, sailed from Cádiz on July 30, 1789. French steam corvette Dupleix (1856-1887) Canadian corvettes on antisubmarine convoy escort duty during World War II. A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate. ... Jump to: navigation, search City nickname: Tacita de plata (little silver cup) Location Location within Spain Government Province Cádiz Mayor Teófila Martínez Physical characteristics Area      Land      Water 12. ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1791 the king of Spain gave Malaspina an order to search for Northwest Passage. He surveyed the Alaska coast to the Prince William Sound. At Yakutat Bay, the expedition made contact with the Tlingit. Spanish scholars made a study of the tribe, recording information on social mores, language, economy, warfare methods, and burial practices. Artists with the expedition, Tomas de Suria and José Cardero, produced portraits of tribal members and scenes of Tlingit daily life. A glacier between Yakutat Bay and Icy Bay was subsequently named after Malaspina. Popular Northwest Passage routes through the Canadian archipelago This article describes the route through the Canadian Arctic. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski (R) Senators Ted Stevens (R) Lisa Murkowski (R) Official languages English Area 1,067,653 mi² / 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1... Prince William Sound, on the south coast of Alaska. ... Map of Yakutat Bay Yakutat Bay is 29 km (18 mi) across, extending southwest from Disenchantment Bay to the Gulf of Alaska. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Tlingit totem pole in Ketchikan ca. ...

During the return to Mexico, Malaspina's expedition spent a month at the Spanish outpost in Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, primarily to establish a Spanish navel presence in support of Spain's land claims. In addition to making the first European circumnavigation of Vancouver Island and exploring Puget Sound, the expedition made a study of the Nootka. The two ships sailed south to the Spanish settlement and mission at Monterey, California where scholars examined the customs of the Chumash tribe. Nootka Sound is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean and a natural harbour on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. ... Jump to: navigation, search Located off Canadas Pacific coast and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia Vancouver Island is, at 32,134 square kilometers (12,407 square miles), the largest island on the western side of the Americas. ... Puget Sound Puget Sound is an arm (sound) of the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... The Nootka or Nuu-Chah-Nulth people are indigenous peoples of Canada. ... Jump to: navigation, search The City of Monterey is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in central California in the United States. ... Rafael, a Chumash in the 1800s Chumash The Chumash Indians, a Native American tribe, mainly inhabited the southern coastal regions of California, in the vicinity of what is now Santa Barbara and Ventura, extending as far south as Malibu. ...

After resupplying in Acapulco, Mexico in 1792, Malaspina's two ships returned to Vancouver Island. They then explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia. The expedition sailed into the western Pacific, exploring and charting the coasts of the Marshall Islands, the Marianas, New Zealand, Australia, and the Philippines. On September 21, 1794, by way of South America, Malaspina and his expedition returned to Cádiz, Spain. Acapulco, also known as Acapulco de Juárez, is a city and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, 190 miles S.S.W. of Mexico City, at 16. ... The Strait of Juan de Fuca separates Vancouver Island from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. ... The Strait of Georgia (also known as Georgia Strait and the Gulf of Georgia) is a 240 km (150 mi)-long strait between Vancouver Island (as well as its nearby Gulf Islands) and the mainland Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. ... Mariana Islands (sometimes called The Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called the Ladrone Islands) are a group of islands made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the Pacific Ocean. ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Political Controversy and Exile

Malaspina examined the political situation in the Spanish colonies in the Pacific Ocean. He decided that Spain should form a confederation of states bound by international trade. In September 1795 he sent Spanish government his proposals to influence government policy. Because he criticized Prime Minister Manuel Godoy, Godoy had Malaspina arrested on November 23 accused of plotting against the state. After an inconclusive trail on April 20, 1796 Charles IV of Spain demoted Malaspina and sent him to prison in La Coruña, Calicia. Manuel de Godoy (May 12, 1767 – October 4, 1851) was a Spanish statesman. ... Jump to: navigation, search November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... Charles IV (November 11, 1748 - January 20, 1819) was King of Spain from December 14, 1788 until his abdication on March 19, 1808. ... Torre de Hércules View from the Torre de Hércules A Coruña (Galician name, also known in English as Corunna; in Spanish as La Coruña) is a Galician city, in north-western Spain at 43° 22′ 0″ N 8° 22′ 60″ W. It is the capital of...

During his incarceration, Malaspina wrote essays in aesthetics, economics and literature. Because of his political conflict with Spain, his seven-volume account of the 1789-94 expeditions was surpressed and remained unpublished until the late 19th century.

Francesco Melzi d'Eril and Napoleon campaigned for Malaspina's release. He was freed at the end of 1802 but exiled from Spain. He left for Mulazzo through Genoa and settled in Pontremoli. He got involved with local politics. In December he was entrusted to organize a quarantine between Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Etruria during a yellow fever epidemic in Livorno. In 1805 he received a title of Advising Auditor of the Council of State of the Kingdom of Italy. The queen of Etruria received him at court in December 1806. Shortly he was admitted to the Columban Society in Florence. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Quarantine, a medical term (from Italian: quaranta giorni, forty days) is the act of keeping people or animals separated for a period of time before, for instance, allowing them to enter another country. ... Merchant flag of the Kingdom of Etruria. ... Livorno, sometimes in English Leghorn, (population 170,000) is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. ... Jump to: navigation, search Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E...

Alessandro Malaspina died April 9, 1810. April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

External links

• Biography by Dario Mandfredi