Person
Fernão de Loronha
Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, of Jewish descent
Fernão de Loronha (c. 1470 or before – Lisbon, c. 1540), whose name is often corrupted to Fernando de Noronha or Fernando della Rogna, is a prominent sixteenth-century Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, of Jewish descent.
He is the first charter-holder (1502–1512), the first donatary captain in Brazil and sponsor of numerous early Portuguese overseas expeditions.
The islands of Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil, discovered by one of his expeditions and granted to Loronha and his heirs as a fief in 1504, are named after him.