Gonzalo de Piña y Ludueña or Lidueña (

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, 1545 –

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, 1600) was a Spanish Noble, ''

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

'', and

colonial administrator Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

in the

Province of Venezuela The Venezuela Province (or Province of Caracas) was a province of the Spanish Empire (from 1527), of Gran Colombia (1824–1830) and later of Venezuela (from 1830), apart from an interlude (1528–1546) when it was contracted as a concession by t ...

between 1597 and 1600.Capitanes Generales de Venezuela en la época de la Colonia
(Spanish), taken from ''Gobernadores y Capitanes Generales de Provincia'', by Guillermo Morón. Gonzalo de Piña Ludueña was born in

in 1545 which was then part of Spain. He moved to the Americas and settled down in Mérida, currently Western Venezuela, becoming one of the first Spanish inhabitants of the town. He was since then responsible for establishing several new towns and hamlets in the area, such as Nuestra Señora de Pedraza (founded in 1591 and known now as Pedraza, state of Barinas), or San Antonio de Gibraltar (currently known as

, located in the state of

Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...

). San Antonio de Gibraltar was named after Gonzalo de Piña Ludueña's hometown as authorised by the city council of Mérida, which, in need of a new harbour, commissioned its construction on the shore of

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

in 1592. Upon the promotion of the former governor of the

Diego de Osorio Diego de Osorio y Villegas (1540 in Villasandino – 1601 in Santo Domingo) was a sixteenth-century governor of Venezuela Province (1589–1597), the Venezuela Province being a part of the Spanish Empire. He was governor at the time of t ...

, to head of the

Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo The Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo () was the first court of the Spanish crown in America. It was created by Ferdinand V of Castile in his decree of 1511, but due to disagreements between the governor of Hispaniola, Diego Colon and the Crown ...

, Piña Ludueña was appointed governor by the king Philip II on April 17, 1597, and remained in office until his death, on March 28, 1600. He also wrote "Description of the Lake Maracaybo and Magdalena River" (''Descripción de la laguna de Maracaybo y río de la Magdalena'').Boletín de la Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid. Volume XXVIII, First Semester of 1890
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinza Luduenza, Gonzalo 1545 births 1600 deaths Spanish people from Gibraltar Andalusian conquistadors Viceroyalty of Peru people