Piri Reis: Biography, Facts and Career

Piri Reis (Turkish: Pîrî Reis; born Muhiddin Piri c. 1465–1470; died 1553) was an Ottoman Turkish cartographer, admiral, and corsair. He is best known for his 1513 world map and his nautical atlas, the Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of the Sea). His cartography engaged more directly with the Age of Discovery than other Ottoman works from the period. His maps provide a glimpse into the world during a time of major geopolitical change, when the Americas were explored and the Ottoman Empire came to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean. Piri Reis began his maritime career sailing with his uncle, the corsair Kemal Reis, with whom he entered Ottoman naval service. He later commanded his own ship in the Ottoman–Venetian wars and, after his uncle's death, began the cartographic work for which he became best known. After blockading the port of Alexandria during the 1517 conquest of Egypt, Piri Reis presented his world map as a gift to Selim I, and he dedicated his atlases to Selim's successor, Suleiman the Magnificent. Decades later, as grand admiral of the Ottoman fleet in the Indian Ocean, Piri Reis led successful campaigns in the Red Sea, but was beheaded following his retreat from the siege of Hormuz. During his lifetime, Piri Reis's cartography received little appreciation, but many copies of the Kitab-ı Bahriye were produced after his death. The 1929 rediscovery of his first world map, during renovations to the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, sparked interest in his work largely because it cites a now-lost map by Christopher Columbus. While the rediscovery made his achievements a point of national pride for Turkey, the map became the subject of fringe theories based on the disproven hypothesis that it depicted an ice-free Antarctica. Studies have shown no significant similarities between the map's southern coastline and Antarctica's coast beneath the ice. Nevertheless, this speculation has broadened popular interest in his work.

Quick facts about Piri Reis

• Full name: Piri Reis
• Born: 1470-01-01
• Nationality: Ottoman Empire
• Known as: Author
• Wikidata ID: Q217915

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.