Diogo Rodrigues

Dom Diogo de Azevedo Roiz (né Rodrigues; c. 1490-1496 – 21 April 1577) was a Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean who sailed as an ordinary helmsman under the command of Dom Pedro Mascarenhas around Goa. They sailed from the Cape of Good Hope eastward into little-known waters of the newly discovered route to Goa. Rodrigues island was named after him between 4 and 9 February 1528 because he had discovered it during his only return journey from Goa via Cochin (left on 15 January 1528) to Lisbon, where he was elevated to the rank of a knight (cavaleiro) by John III of Portugal. He then returned to Goa and made a mark in the history of the Portuguese empire in the subcontinent around the mid-16th century.