since he became a widower, and with whom the father would have two illegitimate children: Francisco and Inés Pinzón. According to the testimony of Francisco Medel and Hernán Pérez Mateos, he was brought to the La Rábida Monastery, where he died; he was entombed there, as was his wish. It has been claimed that Pinzón's recurring fever was syphilis. The theory that syphilis is of New World origin and that it was first brought back to Europe by Columbus's crew has been longstanding, and long controversial. Some recent genetic evidence restores credence to the theory. Even so, even if Pinzón contracted it on the voyage, it is extremely unlikely that it was the cause of his death. Tertiary syphilis does not normally show up for 3 to 15 years. There is also a possibility that some historians have confused Martín Alonso Pinzón with his brother Francisco, who is more plausibly (but still controversially) believed to have had this particular disease. Conversely, there is the possibility that the first outbreak of syphilis among Europeans with no immunity was much more virulent than subsequently. Fernández Duro further writes that Pinzón's "unpardonable crime" was that he had the luck or skill to obtain more gold than Columbus. In popular culture Martín Alonso Pínzon was portrayed by Tchéky Karyo in 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Robert Davi in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, both released in 1992. References Sources Online at archive.org. The link is to an abridged copy on Google Books. Further reading Louis-Théodule Begaud: Le premier Capitaine au long cours, Martín Alonso Pinzón, associé de Christophe Colomb; Organisateur et animateur de l'expédition de 1492, Paris 1944 Adám Szászdi: El descubrimiento de Puerto Rico en 1492 por Martín Alonso Pinzón, in: Revista de historia. San Juan, Año 1(1985), Nr. 2, S. 9-45. Domingo Gómez: Vindicación del piloto de la carabela "Pinta", Martín Alonso Pinzón, in: Mundi hispánico. - Madrid, Año 21(1968), Nr. 241. Francisco Morales Padrón: Las relaciones entre Colón y Martín Alonso Pinzón, in: Actas. - Lisboa, Vol. 3(1961), S. 433-442. Urs Bitterli: Die "Wilden" und die "Zivilisierten", 3. Aufl., München 2004 ISBN ? Ders.: Alte Welt - neue Welt, München 1992 ISBN ? Ders.: Die Entdeckung Amerikas, 4. Aufl., München 1992 ISBN ? Ders.: Die Kenntnis beider "Indien" im frühneuzeitlichen Europa, München 1991 External links 1440s births 1493 deaths Spanish explorers Spanish navigators 15th-century Castilians People from Palos de la Frontera Christopher