What Was Enrique of Malacca’s Real Name?

What Was Enrique of Malacca’s Real Name?

Enrique of Malacca’s original name is unknown. He was christened Enrique sometime after Ferdinand Magellan took him as a slave in 1511, when the Portuguese invaded and sacked the area trade hub. Historians later added Malacca to identify his (possible) origin. In his popular 1958 novel, Harun Aminurrasyid gave Enrique the Malay name Panglima Awang—also the book's title. The fictional name has stuck, and more fictional accounts and books have followed as the character took hold around South East Asia. Other fictional names have included Henry the Black. More about Enrique of Malacca's name.


Variants: The Portuguese version is Henrique de Malaca, the Spanish Enrique de Malaca. Other variants of Enrique’s name use the Malay spelling of the city—Enrique de Melaka. An Indonesian variant, Enrique Maluku, appeared in the book Pengeliling bumi pertama adalah orang Indonesia: Enrique Maluku (The first circumnavigator was an Indonesian: Enrique of Moluccas), written by Helmy Yahya and Reinhard Tawas.


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