Jacques Cartier was born on 31st December 1491 in the Duchy of Brittany and he died on 1st September 1557 (aged 66 years) in Saint Malo, France. The first European to travel inland in North America and to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and shores of the Saint Lawrence River which he named ‘The country of Canadas’. He’s credited with naming Canada and claiming it for France. He opened up the greatest waterway for the European penetration of North America. He spent the rest of his life in Saint Malo and his nearby estate, where he often was useful as an interpreter in Portuguese.
Do you know: Jacques Cartier stayed with the Indians during winters, two of whom he kidnapped as he returned to France.
