Rodrigo de Jerez
Rodrigo de Jerez was one of the Spanish crewmen who sailed to the Americas on the Santa Maria as part of Christopher Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. He was born in Ayamonte, a small city in the southwest of Spain. He is credited with being the first European smoker.

On 12 October 1492, the crew first encountered tobacco at San Salvador island in the Bahamas, known to the natives as Guanahani. The natives presented them with apparently valuable "dry leaves that spread a peculiar fragrance". The crew later discarded the leaves.

In November 1492, Jerez and Luis de Torres first observed natives smoking. They were searching for the Emperor of China, Hongzhi Emperor, in Cuba. Apparently, the natives made rolls of palm and mais leaves "in the manner of a musket formed of paper" with tobacco on the inside. One would light one side and "drink" the smoke out of the other.

Jerez picked up the tobacco smoking habit. When he returned to Europe in the Niña, he introduced the habit to his home town, Ayamonte. The smoke surrounding him frightened his neighbours: the Spanish Inquisition imprisoned him for his "sinful and infernal" habits, because "only Devil could give a man the power to exhale smoke from his mouth". When he was released seven years later, smoking tobacco had caught on.
Q29
Spanish
LOC
Q828
Americas
LOC
Q107900
Santa Maria
MISC
Q7322
Christopher Columbus
PER
Q97
Atlantic Ocean
LOC
Q7212330
smoker
Concept
Q845540
San Salvador
LOC
Q778
Bahamas
LOC
Q1144797
Guanahani
LOC
Q1876575
Luis de Torres
PER
Q268218
Emperor of China
PER
Q9994
Hongzhi Emperor
PER
Q241
Cuba
LOC
Q501652
Niña
MISC
Q736872
Ayamonte
LOC
Q184725
Spanish Inquisition
ORG
Q60227
sinful
Concept
Q564
infernal
Concept
Q6674
Devil
Concept
Q678062
Rodrigo de Jerez
PER
1492-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1492
DATE
1492-10-12T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
12 October 1492
DATE
1492-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 1492
DATE
country of citizenship
place of birth
located in or next to body of water
discoverer or inventor
country
said to be the same as
position held