Spanish adventurer; the discoverer of Florida; born at San Servas, Spain, in 1460, was a court page, served against the Moors, and in 1502 sailed with Ovando to Hispaniola and became governor of the eastern part of the island. In 1510 he obtained the governorship of Porto Rico, and had conquered the whole island by 1512, when he was deprived of his post. He then, broken in health, set out on a quest for the fountain of perpetual youth, and on March 27, 1512, discovered Florida, landing a little to the north of where St. Augustine now stands. He secured the appointment of governor pro tempore of the country, and, after stopping on his way back to drive the Caribs out of Porto Rico, he returned in 1521 to conquer his new subjects; in this, however, he failed and lost nearly all his followers. He retired to Cuba, and died there, in July, from the wound of a poisoned arrow. His remains and a monument are in San Juan de Porto Rico.
