António Fernandes

António Fernandes (died 1520) was a Portuguese carpenter turned explorer, the first European known to have entered the Zimbabwean interior. Condemned to death, his sentence was commuted to African exile; he arrived on the East African coast in 1501 and settled at Sofala in 1504.

From 1511 to 1514 he explored the Zambezi and the inland, reaching the court of the Mwenemutapa ruler. In 1515–1516 he explored the Buzi River, and he died at Sofala in 1520.