Tristão Vaz Teixeira

From Freepedia

Image:Coat of Arms Tristão Vaz.jpg Tristão Vaz Teixeira (c. 1395-1480) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer that, together with João Gonçalves Zarco and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, discovered the Madeira Islands (1419-1420).

Nobleman of Prince Henry the Navigator's House, he was granted, as hereditary fief (Capitania), half the island of Madeira and, together with his fellow fleet commanders, started the colonization of the islands. His true name was just Tristão Vaz, the name Teixeira being later added because of his wife Branca Teixeira.