Verrazano, Giovanni da (1485?-1528?), an Italian navigator and privateer. He was born near Florence. In the service of France he captured two treasure ships that Hernando Cortez sent from Mexico in 1522. Verrazano was commissioned by Francis I in 1523 to explore the coast of North America. According to his own account, he explored the coast from North Carolina to Newfoundland in 1524. He may have been the first European to enter New York harbor. Later, he sailed to the West Indies and South America, where he is said to have been killed by Indians.