 alonso de ojeda (ca.1468 (some sources state 1466) &ndash; 1515) was a spanish navigator, governor and conquistador. he travelled through guyana, venezuela, trinidad, tobago, curaÃ§ao, aruba and colombia. he is famous for having named venezuela, which he explored during his first two expeditions, for having been the first european to visit guyana, colombia, and lake maracaibo, and later for founding santa cruz (la guairita). == early life == he was born around 1468 (some authors claim 1466) to an impoverished noble family. he grew up in ojeda, near oÃ±a, in the merindad of bureba in the present day province of burgos in northern spain. in his youth he served the duke of medinaceli, don luis de la cerda, as a page. alonso de ojeda was a close relative of a member of the court of the inquisition, who had the same name. this relative presented him to the famous archbishop of burgos juan rodrÃ­guez de fonseca who would later become president of the council of the indies. he distinguished himself in the conquest of grenada, with his military abilities, his skill as a swordsman and his bravery. the young ojeda quickly won the patronage of the archbishop, who offered his protection at the first opportunity. alonso was slight of stature, surprisingly agile and extremely accomplished with all types of weapons. in addition he was quick witted and insightful, he was brave to the point of recklessness, vindictive to the point of cruelty, softhearted with the weak and courteous with women, quarrelsome and a duellist, but he was deeply religious and rigorously observed his religious duties. the archbishop thought the youth had a well-tempered soul and a generous heart, but he also noticed that his character had a depth of ambition that would help him to emulate christopher columbus. == arrival in hispaniola == in september 1493, thanks to rodrÃ­guez de fonseca, he accompanied christopher columbus on his second voyage to the americas, arriving on the island of hispaniola. in january 1494, columbus gave him the task of finding the members of a number of crews that were lost in the hinterland of the island. ojeda only had fifteen men at his command in his search of the cibao region of the island, which was controlled by the wa
1468_births 1515_deaths 15th-century_Spanish_people 15th-century_explorers 16th-century_Haitian_people 16th-century_Spanish_people 16th-century_explorers Explorers_of_South_America History_of_Venezuela People_from_Cuenca,_Spain Spanish_conquistadors Spanish_explorers