Bartolome de Las Casas was born in 1484 in Sevilla, Spain, and he died on 18th July 1566 (aged 82 years) in Madrid, Spain. A Spanish missionary, Bartolome travelled to the western hemisphere to take care of the lands that were given to his father by Christopher Columbus, moving to West Indies and working towards the betterment of the natives. He is one of the earliest people who worked for human rights. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed ‘Protector of the Indians’.
Do you know: Bartolome de Las Casas wrote a massive book ‘History of the Indies’ which he finished in 1562 but it was published only in 1875. It included an invaluable extract of Columbus’ first logbook.
