Juan Jufré

Juan Jufré
Juan Jufré
Born	1516 Medina de Rioseco
Died	1578 Santiago
Nationality	Spanish
Occupation	conquistador, administrator

Juan Jufré de Loayza y Montesa (1516–1578) was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the 1541 expedition of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile. He was the first alcalde of Santiago, Chile (in 1541) and held the position of governor of the Argentine province of Cuyo. He founded the city of San Juan de la Frontera and re-founded the city of Mendoza.

Jufré was born in Medina de Rioseco, a municipality of Valladolid He was the son of Francisco Jufré de Loayza and Cándida de Montesa. In 1538, he arrived in the Americas with captain Juan Martin de Candia, and they traveled from Panama to Peru, soon moving to Chile with Pedro de Valdivia. He was present at the foundation of Santiago and in the first campaigns against the natives. He accompanied Pedro de Villagra when he returned to fight in the civil war in Peru against Gonzalo Pizarro in 1547 and 1548. After his return Jufré actively participated in the Arauco War, becoming captain and justice of the Arauco Province. After the death of Valdivia in Tucapel (1553), he aided the population in the south with food and in 1554 he crushed a rebellion of the Promaucaes in Gualemo on the Lontué River, which now is the province of Curicó.

Jufré later fought against Lautaro and was in the campaigns of García Hurtado de Mendoza. He participated in the refounding of Concepción in 1559. When Francisco de Villagra became governor of Chile, Jufré was named Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Cuyo in 1561 and founded the city of San Juan de la Frontera and refounded Mendoza. Returning in 1562 because of the new Mapuche revolt, he became lieutenant of Governor of Chile and organized aid for the war in the south. He continued participating in the war for more than a decade.

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