Gonzalo de Mendoza

Gonzalo de Mendoza (? in

Baeza, Spain Baeza () is a city and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the ''comarca'' of La Loma. It is now principally famed for having some of the best-preserved examples of ...

– 1558 in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

) was a Spanish conquistador and colonizer. A native of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

in Spain, he joined his brother

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, mean ...

at his new colony of New Andalusia in 1536. Together with Juan de Salazar y Espinosa, he founded Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (Asunción del Paraguay) on 15 August 1537, which soon became the seat of the colony. Under succeeding governors, he acted as their captain and

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, while exploring

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He succeeded

Domingo Martínez de Irala Domingo Martínez de Irala (; c. 1509 Bergara, Gipuzkoa – c. 1556 Asunción, Paraguay) was a Spanish Basque people, Basque conquistador. He headed for America in 1535 enrolled in the expedition of Pedro de Mendoza and participated in the foundi ...

as acting

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the renamed Governorate of Rio de la Plata in 1556. During his term, the

Ciudad Real del Guayrá Ciudad () is the Spanish word for City Ciudad may also refer to: *La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona *La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico *''La ciudad'', novel by Mario Levrero 1970 *La Ciudad ''The City'' ...

was founded by

Ruy Díaz de Malgarejo Ruy may refer to: Arts and Entertainment *Ruy, the Little Cid, Spanish animated television series *Ruy Blas, a character in the eponymous tragic drama by Victor Hugo People *another form of Rui, a Portuguese male given name *another form of the S ...

at the confluence of the Pepirí-Guazú and Paraná rivers. This city received the settlers of when it was abandoned and later grew large enough to briefly become the namesake for the governorate of Paraguay. Mendoza was succeeded in his turn by captain

Francisco Ortiz de Vergara Francisco Ortiz de Vergara (Seville, 1524 – Ciudad Zaratina, 2 December 1574) was a Spanish conquistador and colonizer. He succeeded Gonzalo de Mendoza as governor of Rio de la Plata. He was elected, rather than appointed by the king or hi ...

in 1558. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza 1500s births 1558 deaths Spanish conquistadors 16th-century Spanish people 16th-century explorers Governors of the Río de la Plata