caption father death_date death_place mother birth_place religion birth_date image article_title
coat of arms of vasco coutinho jorge de melo 1561 vila velha , portuguese colony of brazil branca coutinho serpa , portugal roman catholic 1490 brasãodevascocoutinho.png vasco fernandes coutinho , captain of espírito santo

vasco fernandes coutinho , captain of espírito santo

vasco fernandes coutinho -lrb- 1490 -- 1561 -rrb- was a portuguese fidalgo , first donatário of the captaincy of espírito santo .
he was born in portugal .
he was later amongst the first 12 volunteers from portugal to come to the newly discovered land which came to be known as brazil .
he was presented the area which became espírito santo and administered the colony for 25 years , despite being a military man by trade .
he founded the current capital vitória and the first capital , today known as vila velha -lrb- `` old town '' -rrb- .
during his administration espírito santo 's first two churches -- são joão and rosário , both in vila velha -- were founded -lrb- 1551 -rrb- .
both are still standing .
