Born 1465,
Cuenca, Spain
Died 1515,
Santo Domingo

Alonso de Ojeda was born in the Spanish city of Cuenca in the province of Castile. He came from an aristocratic family and served in the household of an important nobleman, the Duke of Medina Celi. He fought with the Duke in the last campaign to drive the Muslims out of Granada in southern Spain. In 1493 Ojeda commanded one of the ships in the second expedition Christopher Columbus (see entry) led to America. During this voyage Ojeda took part in campaigns against the Native Americans and he went on exploring expeditions into the interior of the island of Hispaniola.

Leads expedition to South America

Upon his return to Spain, Ojeda became associated with Amerigo Vespucci (see entry), for whom the Americas were later named, and Juan de la Cosa, who produced one of the first maps of the...