Verrazzano, Giovanni da, vehr uh ZAH noh, joh VAHN ee dah (1485?-1528?), an Italian navigator in the service of France, sailed to North America in 1524. On the voyage, he sought the Northwest Passage to China. He did not find the passage. But he explored the eastern coast of North America from the Carolinas to Newfoundland. Verrazzano later made two more voyages to the New World. Historians believe that during the second of these voyages, he was killed by Indians in the Caribbean region.