Al-Hasann Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi was a highly educated Moroccan who was captured, enslaved, and presented as a gift to Pope Leo X, who freed him and christened him Johannes Leo, although he came to be known as Leo Africanus. He wrote the first “scholarly survey” of Africa, Description of Africa (1526), which is filled with racist ideas about Black inferiority.
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Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi/Leo Africanus Character Timeline in Stamped from the Beginning
The timeline below shows where the character Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi/Leo Africanus appears in Stamped from the Beginning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Origins of Racist Ideas
In 1510, a highly educated Moroccan named Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi was captured and enslaved during a diplomatic mission. He was brought to Pope Leo X,...
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Chapter 3: Coming to America
It is into this assimilationist climate that Richard Mather is born in 1596. In 1600, Leo Africanus ’ Geographical Histories of Africa is published in English translation for the first time, giving...
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...colonial America docks in Jamestown in 1619. That same year, John Pory—the English translator of Leo Africanus ’ Geographical Histories of Africa—leads a meeting of Jamestown’s first group of elected officials. During...
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