Luis de Torres (died 1493) was
Christopher Columbus's interpreter on his first voyage to America.
De Torres was a
converso
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian po ...
, apparently born Yosef ben HaLevi HaIvri chosen by Columbus for his knowledge of Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Arabic. After arriving at
Cuba, which he supposed to be the Asian coast, Columbus sent de Torres and the sailor
Rodrigo de Jerez on an expedition inland on November 2, 1492. Their task was to explore the country, contact its ruler, and gather information about the Asian emperor described by
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
as the "
Great Khan". The two men were received with great honors in a village, and returned four days later. They reported on the native custom of drying leaves, inserting them in cane pipes, burning them, and inhaling the smoke: a reference to the use of
tobacco.
When Columbus set off for Spain on January 4, 1493, Luis de Torres was among the 39 men who stayed behind at the settlement of
La Navidad founded on the island of
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
. Coming back by the end of that year, Columbus learnt that the whole garrison had been wiped out by internal strife and by an Indian attack.
Further reading
Columbus’s Diaries in the original Spanish* Alicia B. Gould y Quincy, "Nueva lista documentada de los tripulantes de Colón en 1492: Luis de Torres", ''Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia'' 90 (1927), p. 541-552.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Luis de
1493 deaths
Christopher Columbus
Interpreters
Spanish explorers
Spanish Roman Catholics
15th-century Spanish people
Year of birth unknown
Conversos