Abraham Ortelius (English Abraham Ortelius; April 2, 1527 - June 28, 1598) - Flemish cartographer, considered the creator of the first modern atlas. Born in Antwerp and belonged to the influential Ortelius family from Augsburg.
In 1547 Ortelius began engraving maps and was admitted to the college of St. Luke. In 1560 he traveled with Mercator across France and, under his influence, turned to scientific geography, namely, the creation of the atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which made him famous.
It all began with the publication in 1564 of an eight-page world map, which later entered the Theater. A single copy has survived in Basel. Also published were a two-page map of Egypt in 1565, a plan for the Brittenburg castle on the coast of the Netherlands in 1568, an eight-page map of Asia in 1567 and a six-page map of Spain, which later entered the atlas.
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was published by Gilles Coppens de Diest on May 20, 1570 in Atwerp. More than twenty-five editions in different languages were published before Ortelius's death in 1598, and several more after, since the demand for the atlas existed until 1612.
Subsequent editions differ from previous editions, since the author has introduced new information and corrected errors.
In 1573, Ortelius published an addition to the atlas - "Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum" of seventeen maps. Then four more additions were made, the last one in 1597. Ortelius was also interested in antiquities, coins and medals. In 1573 he published his collection in the book Theater of Greek Antiquities. The book was reprinted until 1699.
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In 1575, Ortelius was appointed geographer to King Philip II of Spain, despite suspicions of adherence to Protestantism.
Ortelius published several books with maps of the ancient world and expressed in one of the editions the hypothesis of continental drift, which was confirmed only a few centuries later.
In 1596 the city of Antwerp gave him honors similar to those that Rubens was later awarded. His death was marked by general mourning. Ortelius is buried in the Church of St. Michael in Antwerp.
Atlas of Abraham Ortelius was a reflection of the state of geographical knowledge at that point in time. This atlas was repeatedly supplemented and republished and became a kind of "geographical bible" for navigators of the late 16th - early 17th centuries. Along with the Mercator atlas, he also played an important role in the development of cartography.