Selkirk, Alexander (1676-1721), was a Scotsman whose experiences as a castaway on a lonely island inspired Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). While sailing in the South Seas in 1704 on a pirate expedition, Selkirk quarreled with the ship’s captain. At his own request, he was left on one of the Juan Fernandez islands, about 400 miles (640 kilometers) west of Valparaiso, Chile. He lived alone for 52 months, until Captain Woodes Rogers rescued him. The captain recorded Selkirk’s experiences on the island in A Cruising Voyage Around the World. Captain Edward Cooke described them in A Voyage to the South Seas and Round the World. Selkirk was born in Largo, Fife.
