João Pedro Leitão

Fernão Mendes Pinto
was a Portuguese explorer and writer (1509 – 1583). His exploits are known through the posthumous publication of his memoir Pilgrimage (Portuguese: Peregrinação).

Pinto's travels can be divided into three phases; his initial voyages from Portugal to India, in which he attempted to join Portuguese outposts on the Western coast of India, and was diverted several times, traveling through many nations around the Red Sea, from the coast of Africa to the Persian Gulf. After eventually reaching India, he then voyaged to the eastern coast of India and to Portuguese possessions around Malacca, bringing him to Sumatra, Siam, China, and Japan. Finally, Pinto returned to Europe.