Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Who is Vasco Núñez de Balboa?

Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer and conquistador best known as the first European to lead an expedition that sighted the Pacific Ocean from the shores of the Americas. Born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, he sailed to the New World in 1500 and later settled in Hispaniola before stowing away on a ship bound for the troubled colony of San Sebastián de Urabá. After the colony failed, he helped found Santa María la Antigua del Darién on the Isthmus of Panama, becoming its de facto leader. Acting on accounts from indigenous informants, he led an expedition of Spaniards and native guides across the jungled isthmus, and on 25 September 1513 became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from American shores, which he claimed for the Spanish crown as the "Mar del Sur" (South Sea). His achievement opened the way for later Spanish exploration and conquest along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Political rivalry with the newly appointed governor Pedrarias Dávila, whose daughter Balboa was betrothed to, ultimately turned fatal: Balboa was accused of treason and beheaded in Acla, Panama, in 1519.

Sources: Kathleen Romoli, "Balboa of Darién: Discoverer of the Pacific" (1953) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Vasco Núñez de Balboa" · Wikipedia, "Vasco Núñez de Balboa"