Rodrigo de Jerez was one of the Spanish crewmen who sailed to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

on the Santa Maria as part of Christopher Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. He was born in Ayamonte, a small city in the southwest of Spain. He is credited with being the first European smoker. On 12 October 1492, the crew first encountered tobacco at

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

island in the Bahamas, known to the natives as Guanahani. The natives presented them with apparently valuable "dry leaves that spread a peculiar fragrance". The crew later discarded the leaves. In November 1492, Jerez and

Luis de Torres Luis de Torres (died 1493) was Christopher Columbus's interpreter on his first voyage to America. De Torres was a converso, apparently born Yosef ben HaLevi HaIvri chosen by Columbus for his knowledge of Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Arabic. After arriv ...

first observed natives smoking. They were searching for the Emperor of China, Hongzhi Emperor, in Cuba. Apparently, the natives made rolls of palm and mais leaves "in the manner of a musket formed of paper" with tobacco on the inside. One would light one side and "drink" the smoke out of the other. Jerez picked up the tobacco smoking habit. When he returned to Europe in the Niña, he introduced the habit to his home town, Ayamonte. The smoke surrounding him frightened his neighbours: the Spanish Inquisition imprisoned him for his " sinful and infernal" habits, because "only Devil could give a man the power to exhale smoke from his mouth". When he was released seven years later, smoking tobacco had caught on.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerez, Rodrigo de 15th-century Spanish people 15th-century explorers Christopher Columbus Spanish explorers History of tobacco Smoking People from Huelva