Juan Ponce de León II
| Juan Ponce de León II | |
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Acting Governor of Puerto Rico.svg){kind=small}
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In office 1579–1579 |
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| Preceded by | Francisco De Obando Y Mexia |
| Succeeded by | Jerónimo De Agüero Campuzano |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1524 San Juan, Puerto Rico, Viceroyalty of New Spain |
| Died | 1591 (aged 66–67) San Juan, Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, Spanish Empire |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican (Spanish) |
| Spouse(s) | Doña Isabel de Loayza |
| Relations |
Juan Ponce de León (grandfather) Luis (sons), Isabel and Maria (daughters) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Juan Ponce de León (grandfather)
Juan Ponce de León II (1524 - 1591) was the first person to be born in Puerto Rico who served as acting governor of the island.
Ponce de León II,(birth name: Juan Troche Ponce de León ), was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Viceroyalty of New Spain to Juan Garcia "Gracia" Troche and Juana Ponce de León. The Spanish Conquistador Juan Ponce de León was Juana's father and, consequently, Ponce de León II's maternal grandfather.
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 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.
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.
In 1581, at the request of King Phillip 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.
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