Gaspar da Gama

Gaspar da Gama also known as Gaspar da India and Gaspar de Almeida (c. 1444 – c. 1510) was an interpreter ("Língua", in old Portuguese) and guide to several fleets of the Portuguese maritime explorations. He was of Jewish origin and was probably born in Poznań in the Kingdom of Poland. In 1498 he was taken captive aboard Vasco da Gama's fleet on its return voyage to Portugal from India. He was known to speak multiple languages including Hebrew and Chaldean, as well as a mixture of Italian and Spanish.