Juan Ponce de León II

Juan Ponce de León II (1524–1591)[1] was a Spanish official and an acting governor of Puerto Rico. He was the first acting governor to be born on the island.

Juan Ponce de León II
Acting Governor of Puerto Rico
In office
1579–1579
Preceded byFrancisco De Obando Y Mexia
Succeeded byJerónimo De Agüero Campuzano
Personal details
Born1524
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Viceroyalty of New Spain
Died1591 (aged 66–67)
San Juan, Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, Spanish Empire
NationalitySpanish
SpouseDoña Isabel de Loayza
RelationsJuan Ponce de León (grandfather)
Juan Ponce de León y Loayza
Luis (sons),
Isabel and María (daughters)

Early years

Ponce de León II (birth name: Juan Troche Ponce de León[note 1]), was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Viceroyalty of New Spain, to Juan García "Gracia" Troche and Juana Ponce de León. The Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León was Ponce de León II's maternal grandfather.

Settlement in Trinidad

Ponce de León II was sent by the Spanish Crown to establish a settlement on the island of Trinidad in 1569. He founded the "town of the Circumcision", probably around modern Laventille. In 1570, this settlement was abandoned, possibly because of the raids by the Caribs, which resulted in the death of Ponce de Leon's son. According to some historians, Ponce de León II may have been an on-and-off governor of the island from 1571 to 1591.[2]

The first Puerto Rican acting governor of Puerto Rico

In 1579, the Spanish Crown named Jerónimo De Agüero Campuzano governor of Puerto Rico. He was to replace the then governor Francisco De Obando Y Mexia. During the time that it took Jerónimo De Agüero Campuzano to travel from Spain to Puerto Rico, Ponce de León II was appointed acting governor. He thus became the first native-born Puerto Rican to be appointed Spanish governor of Puerto Rico.[3]

Written work "Melgarejo's Memoirs"

In 1581, at the request of King Philip II of Spain, Juan Lopez Melgarejo, who served as governor of Puerto Rico from 1581 to 1582, asked Juan Ponce de León II to write a general description of the West Indies with emphasis on the part corresponding to Puerto Rico. He did this with the collaboration of his fellow Puerto Rican Antonio de Santa Clara. Ponce de León II's written work Memorias de Melgarejo (Melgarejo's Memoirs) is one of Puerto Rico's most important historical documents. In 1581, Ponce de León II was able to establish the exact geographical coordinates of San Juan by observing an eclipse.[4][5]

Later years
San José Church

Later in life, after he became a widower, Ponce de León II embraced and lived a religious life. He took it upon himself to transfer the body of his grandfather, Juan Ponce de León, to San José Church in San Juan from Cuba, where he had died and been buried in 1521 after being wounded in an attempt to colonize Florida. His grandfather's remains were moved once again in 1913, when they were transferred to the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, which is also located in Old San Juan.

Juan Ponce de León II's remains are still interred at San José Church in San Juan. Puerto Rico has honored his memory by naming a high school in the town of Florida, Puerto Rico after him.

Ancestors

Notes
  1. In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Troche and the second or maternal family name is Ponce de León.

See also

References
  1. Juan Ponce de León. By Jane Sutcliffe. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company. 2005. ISBN 0-8225-2944-0. Page 42.
  2. "Spanish Governors of Trinidad". Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2006-06-21.
  3. Casa Blanca reveals centuries of San Juan history Archived 2009-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Historia de la investigación científica en Puerto Rico Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Op. Cit: Boletín Del Centro de Investigaciones Históricas. Oficina de Publicaciones, Facultad de Humanidades, Departamento de Historia, Universidad de Puerto Rico. 1985. pp. 107–108.
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