MERCATOR, GERARDUS (GERHARD KREMER)

(1512–1594)

Cartographer. Born in Rupelmonde near Antwerp, Mercator stud ied at the University of Louvain and specialized as a mapmaker. Ac cused of Protestant sympathies, he moved to Duisburg, Germany, in 1552, where he created most of his many maps and atlases. He de veloped a special kind of map projection (named after him) and in creased the legibility of his maps by improving the lettering.