Pero de Ataíde

Pero de Ataíde
Coat of Arms of the Ataíde family
Bornc.1450
Died1504
NationalityPortuguese
Occupation(s)Explorer, navigator
Known forCaptain of the first permanent Portuguese fleet in the Indian Ocean
FatherDom Pedro de Ataíde, Abbot of Penalva
FamilyAtaíde

Pero de Ataíde or Pedro d'Ataíde (d'Atayde, da Thayde), nicknamed O Inferno (Hell), "for the damage he did to the Moors in Africa", (c. 1450 February/March, 1504, Mozambique Island) was a Portuguese sea captain in the Indian Ocean active in the early 1500s. He was briefly captain of the first permanent Portuguese fleet in the Indian Ocean, taking over from Vicente Sodré, and the author of a famous letter giving an account of its fate.