Person

Juan Ponce de León

c. 1474–1521 · 16th century

Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish conquistador who began the conquest of Puerto Rico in 1508 and became its first governor. In 1513 he led the first known European expedition to Florida and gave it its name. He returned in 1521 to found a colony but was wounded in a fight with the Calusa and died soon after in Cuba.

Juan Ponce de León
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 4 state histories

CalusaCacicazgo of GuayníaSpanish Puerto RicoSpanish Florida

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Juan Ponce de León. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/juan-ponce-de-leon
MLA
“Juan Ponce de León.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/juan-ponce-de-leon. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Juan Ponce de León.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/juan-ponce-de-leon.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Juan Ponce de León’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/juan-ponce-de-leon (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻