Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) was French linguist and astronomer who considered that North America had been the home of Atlantis. As a linguist he was impressed with the similarity of the Aztlan of Mexico with the Atlantis of Plato. In 1561 he suggested naming the newly discovered continent Atlantis.

Postel was something of a child prodigy becoming a professor of Arabic at 29, but in later life fell foul of the Inquisition spending most of his last 20 years in prison. He also considered France to be the kingdom of the ‘chosen people’.