Pinzon, Martin Alonzo (c. 1440-1493)

Spanish navigator, companion of Christopher Columbus, on whose first expedition (1492) he commanded the Pinta, with his brother Francisco as pilot and his other brother Vicente in command of the Nina. After their landing at San Salvador he separated from Columbus for a time, and was the first traveller from Europe to visit Haiti. He returned to Palo in Andalusia on the same day as Columbus, of whose success he was said to be envious.

Between 1506 and 1509 he explored the Gulf of Honduras and southeast Yucatán and eastern South America. On a voyage in 1499-1500 his brother Vicente was the first Spanish navigator to cross the Equator, and the first European to visit Brazil and the mouth of the Amazon.