Juan Díaz de Solís ( – 20 January 1516) was a 16th-century navigator and explorer. He is also said to be the first European to land on what is now modern day Uruguay.
Biography
His origins are disputed. One document records him as a Portuguese in the service of
Castile ("Spain"), having possibly been born in Lisbon or
São Pedro de Solis. Others claim that his birth took place in
Lebrija, in what is now the province of
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...
, Spain, where documentation testifies that he lived when he was in Castile, as ''vecino'' ("neighbor"), meaning living there. However he began his naval career in Portugal as João Dias de Solis, where he became a pilot in the
Portuguese India Armadas
The Portuguese Indian Armadas ( pt, Armadas da Índia) were the fleets of ships funded by the Crown of Portugal, and dispatched on an annual basis from Portugal to India. The principal destination was Goa, and previously Cochin. These armada ...
. After leaving his home in Lisbon and the ship that he was going to sail as Pilot, in the same day of departure of the fleet (ship captained by
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...
, in the 1506 armada of
Tristão da Cunha
Tristão da Cunha (sometimes misspelled Tristão d'Acunha; ; c. 1460 – c. 1507) was a Portuguese explorer and naval commander. In 1499, he served as ambassador from King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X, leading a luxurious embassy presentin ...
, to India), accused of the death of his wife, he served as a privateer in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
fleets for a short time, before serving, later, the Spanish Crown.
He served as navigator on expeditions to the
Yucatán in 1506-1507 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 ...
in 1508 with
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón () (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanish navigator and explorer, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. Along with his older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón (''c.'' 1441 – ''c.'' 1493), who captained the '' Pinta'', h ...
. He became a Pilot-Major of Spain in 1512 following the death of
Amerigo Vespucci, and was thereafter commissioned to update the
Padrón Real
The Padrón Real (, ''Royal Register''), known after 2 August 1527 as the Padrón General (, ''General Register''), was the official and secret Spanish master map used as a template for the maps present on all Spanish ships during the 16th century ...
with
Juan Vespucio.
[Archivo General de Indias,, "Comisión a Juan Díaz de Solís y Juan Vespucci", ES.41091.AGI/16404.46.5.1//CONTRATACION,5784,L.1,F.20-21.][Stevenson, Edward L.]
"The Geographical Activities of the Casa de la Contratacion"
''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'', Vol. 17, No. 2. (Jun., 1927), pp. 39-59.
Two years after appointment to this office, Díaz de Solís prepared an expedition to explore the southern part of the new American continent. His three ships and crew of 70 men sailed from
Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in Spain, on 8 October 1515. He followed the eastern coast of South America southward as far as the mouth of the
Río de la Plata. He reached and named the Río de la Plata in 1516, sailing upriver to the confluence of the
Uruguay River and the
Paraná River
The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...
with two officers and seven men. The little party had not proceeded far when they were attacked by local
Charrúa
The Charrúa were an indigenous people or Indigenous Nation of the Southern Cone in present-day Uruguay and the adjacent areas in Argentina ( Entre Ríos) and Brazil ( Rio Grande do Sul). They were a semi-nomadic people who sustained themsel ...
Indians, but the evidence points towards it being the
Guarani people who killed him. It has been suggested that he was eaten by the Charrúa after disembarking. However, the Charrúa didn't practice cannibalism, while the Guarani Indians did. Surviving crew members reported Díaz de Solís and most of the other men had been killed, thus putting the expedition to an end. His brother-in-law,
Francisco de Torres, took charge of the ships and returned to Spain.
Honors
Several places in Uruguay are named after Juan Díaz de Solís:
*bodies of water:
**
Arroyo Solís Chico
Arroyo often refers to:
* Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek
Arroyo may also refer to:
People
* Arroyo (surname)
Places United States
;California
* Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California
* Arroy ...
*populated places:
**
Balneario Solís
A balneario ( Portuguese spelling: balneário) is an Iberian and Latin American resort town, typically a seaside resort, and less commonly along the shores of lakes and rivers or next to hot springs. In Spain, balneario typically only refers to spa ...
**
Solís de Mataojo
Solís de Mataojo is a small town in the southwest edge of the Lavalleja Department of southern Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shar ...
*other:
**
Solís Theatre
Solís Theatre (''Spanish'': Teatro Solís) is Uruguay's most important and renowned theatre. It opened in 1856 and the building was designed by the Italian architect Carlo Zucchi. It is located in Montevideo's Old Town, right next to the Plaz ...
, the most important theatre in Montevideo
**
Route 10 Juan Díaz de Solís
Route 10 is a national route of Uruguay. In 1983, it was assigned the name Juan Díaz de Solís, honouring the Spanish navigator.
The distance notation along Route 10 uses the same Kilometre Zero reference as Routes 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and IB, ...
Notes
References
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz De Solis, Juan
Portuguese explorers
Explorers of Central America
Navigators
People of the Spanish colonial Americas
1470 births
1516 deaths
Explorers of Argentina
Colonial Uruguay
History of the Yucatán Peninsula
People from Lebrija
People from Mértola
Spanish military personnel killed in action
Río de la Plata
16th-century explorers
16th-century South American people
16th-century Spanish people
Spanish explorers of North America
Spanish explorers of South America