João Fernandes Lavrador (1453–1501) (Portuguese pronunciation:[ʒuˈɐ̃wfɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʒlɐvɾɐˈðoɾ]) was aPortugueseexplorer of the late 15th century. He was one of the first modern explorers of the Northeast coasts ofNorth America, including the largeLabrador peninsula, which was named after him by European settlers in eastern Canada. The popular dog breedLabrador Retriever is named after the peninsula and thus by effect also bears his name.

Lavrador was granted a patent byKing Manuel I in 1498 that gave him the right to explore the part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in theTreaty of Tordesillas.^[1]

Together withPero de Barcelos, Lavrador first sighted what is now known as Labrador in 1498. Lavrador also charted the coasts of SouthwesternGreenland and of adjacent NortheasternNorth America around 1498; he reported on these observations and gave notice of them in Europe. The areas are believed to have been namedisland of the Labrador andland of the Labrador (modern-dayLabrador), respectively, after him.^{[citation needed]}

Upon his return from Greenland, Lavrador sailed toBristol. He received a patent for exploration fromKing Henry VII. In 1501 Lavrador set sail for discovery of lands in the name of England. He was never heard from again.^{[citation needed]}

• Low, Albert Peter; Coleman, Arthur Philemon (1911)."Labrador" . InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 28–29.
• Davies, A. (1979) [1966]."Fernandes, João". In Brown, George Williams (ed.).Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. I (1000–1700) (online ed.).University of Toronto Press.
• Jost, T. (1967). Voyages of Discovery: Hugh Say Alias John Day The Men of Bristol and Joao Fernandes. Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization, 4(1), 01-12.

• 1505 deaths
• Portuguese explorers of North America
• 15th-century Portuguese explorers
• 1453 births
• Maritime history of Portugal

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