The guy who got TWO continents named after him and you've never heard of him? Rude.
Everyone knows Columbus, but few know Vespucci. And yet, the continent of America was named after the banker and explorer Amerigo Vespucci. This film attempts to find the truth about the almost unknown Italian – was he a swindler, as was later claimed, or a daring navigator who first recognised the significance of Columbus' discovery?
Direction
Schmitz treats dusty archives like a crime scene investigation.
Acting
Reenactments that don't make you cringe — rare for docs.
Editing
50 minutes, zero fat, all historical tea spilled.
Director
Eike Schmitz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The name 'America' comes from a Latinized version of 'Amerigo' — mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller made the call in 1507, apparently just vibing with the first name aesthetic.
Vespucci's reputation was torpedoed by a 16th-century smear campaign led by Bartolomé de las Casas, who really wanted Columbus to be the hero. History is just Twitter with slower loading times.
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