Fernão de Loronha (c. 1470 or before –
Lisbon, c. 1540), whose name is often
corrupted to
Fernando de Noronha or
Fernando della Rogna, was a prominent 16th-century
Portuguese merchant of
Lisbon, of
Jewish descent. He was the first charter-holder (1502–1512), the first
donatary captain in
Brazil and sponsor of numerous early Portuguese overseas expeditions. The islands of
Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil, discovered by one of his expeditions and granted to Loronha and his heirs as a fief in 1504, are named after him.