born 1491, Saint-Malo, Brittany, France
died Sept. 1, 1557, near Saint-Malo
French sailor and explorer.
He was commissioned by Francis I to explore North America in the hope of discovering gold, spices, and a passage to Asia. Cartier's explorations of the North American coast and the St. Lawrence River (1534, 1535, 1541–42) did not produce the desired results, but they did lay the basis for later French claims to Canada.