Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721)

Death: 13th December 1721
Location: Buried at Sea
Cause of Death: Yellow Fever

Scottish sailor who spent more than four years as a castaway after being marooned on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean. The island, Más a Tierra, is in the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernández, 670km off the coast of Chile. By the time he was rescued, he had become adept at hunting and making use of the resources found on the island. His story of survival was widely publicised when he returned home, and likely became a source of inspiration for writer Daniel Defoe's fictional Robinson Crusoe
Selkirk was serving as master's mate on board HMS Weymouth, engaged in an anti-piracy patrol off the west coast of Africa, when he died on 13 December 1721, succumbing to the yellow fever that plagued the voyage. He was buried at sea. 
On 1 January 1966 Chilean President, Eduardo Frei Montalva, changed the name of Más a Tierra to Robinson Crusoe Island, after Defoe's fictional character, in order to attract tourists. At the same time, the larger of the two main Juan Fernández Islands known as Más Afuera became Alejandro Selkirk Island, although Selkirk probably never saw that island as it is located 180 km (110 mi) to the west.

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