Tomé Pires
Portuguese apothecary and diplomat · Politicians · Lived 1468 to 1540 · aged 72
Tomé Pires was a Portuguese apothecary, colonial administrator, and diplomat. Tomé Pires served as apothecary to Prince Alfonso until the prince's death in 1491. In 1510 he was commissioned by the Portuguese court to serve as a "factor of drugs" in India, arriving at Cannanore in 1511.
Tomé Pires is read about 47 times a day, in 21 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 17 August 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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About this person
In 1512 he was sent to the port city of Malacca, recently captured by the Portuguese. There he served as the chief accountant for the royal factory. Upon his return to India in 1515, Pires was sent to China as ambassador from the King of Portugal to the Ming Court. His mission failed when the Chinese court refused to recognize him because of the increasingly hostile activities of Portuguese traders in the region. Pires never left China; he was either executed by the Chinese in 1524 or possibly banished for life to a remote Chinese province.
