Lancelotto Malocello (Italian pronunciation: [lantʃeˈlɔtto maloˈtʃɛllo]) (Latin: Lanzarotus Marocelus; French: Lancelot Maloisel; fl. 1312) was a Genoese navigator, who gave his name to the island of Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands. Lancelotto is the Italian form of the proper name Lancelot.
Genoese navigator, Lancelotto Malocello, is credited with the rediscovery of the Canary Islands in 1312 and the island first appeared on a European map of Angelino Dulcert (the Dulcert Atlas) in 1339 under the name "Ínsula de Lançarote Mallucellus" (island of Lancelotto Malocello), later shortened to "Lanzarote". The island's native name was Tyterogaka.[1]
Malocello may have voyaged in search of the brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, who had sailed to the Canary Islands in 1291 on their way to India, and whose fate was unknown. Malocello arrived on the island in 1312, and remained there for almost two decades until he was expelled by a Guanche revolt. Information about this revolt is scanty, but his stay on the island is supported by various sources, including the chronicles of the Norman conquest of the island under Jean de Bethencourt almost a century later, which state that the fortress constructed by Malocello could still be found on the island. Malocello's fortress was situated above Teguise.
At the time of Malocello's arrival, a king named Zonzamas ruled the island. Ico, his daughter, and Guanarame, her consort, succeeded Zonzamas. Their son Guadarfia was the ruler who would greet the expedition of Jean de Bethencourt in 1402.
To celebrate the seventh centenary of the discovery of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands by the Italian navigator Lanzarotto Malocello, which took place in 1312, promoters formed two committees, one in Spain and one in Italy.
In 2012 Lanzarote commemorated the 700 anniversary of Malocello's rediscovery of the Canary Islands with a number of conferences focusing on the historical context of the voyage.[2]
A delegation of the mayor and 162 residents of Varazze (Malocello's hometown) visited Lanzarote. They arrived aboard the cruise ship Costa Deliziosa, which followed a route between Italy and Lanzarote emulating the path Malocello likely followed to the Canaries.[3]
The Italian organizing committee, chaired by the lawyer Alfonso Licata, has set up a Steering Committee for the study of the life and discoveries of Lanzarotto Malocello and has made a number of public initiatives for dissemination purposes with the moral support of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers , the Ministries of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Education, University and Research, Defense, Foreign Affairs and Tourism as well as some public bodies who have become members of which the City of Varazze (which gave birth to the navigator) , the Italian Naval League, the Italian Geographical Society, the Italian Commission of Military History, the National Association of Sailors of Italy and the District 108 / L of the Lions Club International. To commemorate the event has been coined a commemorative medal made official by the School of the Art Medal and Mint State and published a book by Alfonso Licata "Lanzarotto Malocello, from Italy to the Canary" by the CISM- Ministry of Defence. The Council of Roma Capitale, in 2012, at the request of the organizing committee, on the occasion of the seventh centenary, has dedicated a public green park furnished to the illustrious navigator in the Ostiense district. Similarly, the city of Savona, in turn, again at the request of the Organising Committee in 2013 dedicated to Malocello an green Area equipped with playground in the Port area.
An Italian destroyer, the Lanzerotto Malocello, was named after him. It saw action during the Spanish Civil War and World War II.[4]