(1489 - 1552)
Sebastian Münster was a German cartographer and scholar. He was born in Ingelheim, Germany; the son of Andreas Münster. In 1527 he was appointed Professor of Hebrew at the University of Basel. In 1544 he published the ‘Cosmographia’, the earliest description of the world, which ran to several editions, the last of which was published in 1628, long after his death. Münster edited a new edition of Claudius Ptolemy's ‘Geographia’ and also wrote ‘Dictionarium trilingue’ and ‘Mappa Europae’ (both published in 1536). Münster died from the plague at Basel, at the age of about 63.
