This article is about the trader and explorer. For other uses, see Marco Polo
Marco Polo (September 15 1254Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006. ? January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione ("The Million" or The Travels of Marco Polo).Polo, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which he called Cathay, after the Khitan) and visit the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan).
Voyage of Niccolò and Maffeo Polo
The Polo name originally did not belong to a family of explorers, but to a family of traders. Marco Polo's father, Niccolò (also Nicolò in Venetian) and his uncle, Maffeo (also Maffio), were prosperous merchants who traded with the East. They were partners with a third brother, named Marco il vecchio
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko Polo