Page 8 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

8 from Italy to the Canary Islands

s I have been able to explain to those with whom I have had the
pleasure to speak, the idea of celebrating the seventh centenary of
Italian sailor Lanzarotto Malocello’s discovery of Lanzarote and
the Canary Islands stemmed from the not so flattering observation that no
attention has been given, at neither a political nor an academic level, to a
geographical-historical cultural event which is nonetheless still considered
today, though purely incidentally, to be of utmost importance.
This triggered my desire to close this gap – which translates as an
unacceptable and unjust cultural underestimation - as soon as possible, and
to do my bit in placing Malocello as a pioneer among the greatest sailors and
his epic venture in its rightful place, i.e. among the greatest geographical
events of all times.
I performed the preliminary study during pleasant holidays on Lanzarote
in recent years and during past day-to-day life in Italy, shedding light on the
lack of attention to Malocello’s discovery.
Often, during my early travels to Lanzarote, on meeting the locals, I found
they associated me, as an Italian tourist, with Lanzorotto Malocello, but I
was then unable to converse effectively and respond with full knowledge
of the facts or even, more simply, exchange a few words with them on the
subject.
In Italy, too – dare I add especially in Italy – almost no one has heard
of Lanzarotto Malocello, apart from a few university lecturers who make
fleeting references to him in some odd rare specialist publications. History
textbooks used in secondary schools do not even mention him.
This Italian character, concisely outlined in tourist guides as “the
explorer who discovered the Canary Islands in 1312”, and unknown to most,
immediately stirred a great curiosity in me, which, however, I have only
recently been able to satisfy fully: the publication of this work-compendium
is the tangible result of this, the outcome of plentiful research.
As we are already into 2012, which marks the seven hundredth anniversary
of the discovery, I decided I had to make a flying leap onto the train of
history to promote the related celebrations, which will involve two counties:
Italy and Spain.
The Associazione Italiani Amici di Lanzarote (The Italian Friends of
Lanzarote Association), which I founded in 2001 and which was made
publicly official in 2004, has carried out cultural work out on the Island of