Miguel López de Legazpi

Miguel López de Legazpi
Governor-General of Spanish East Indies
In office April 27, 1565 – August 20, 1572
Monarch	Phillip II
Succeeded by	Guido de Lavezaris
Personal details
Born	Miguel López de Legazpi c. 1502 Zumarraga, Gipuzkoa, Crown of Castile
Died	August 20, 1572 (aged 69–70) Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Resting place	San Agustin Church, Manila
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Miguel López de Legazpi (Spanish: [miˈɣel ˈlopez] : c. 1502 – August 20, 1572), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo (The Elder), was a Basque-Spanish navigator and governor who established the first Spanish settlement in the East Indies when his expedition crossed the Pacific Ocean from the Viceroyalty of New Spain in modern-day Mexico, arrived in Cebu of the Philippine Islands, 1565. He was the first Governor-General of the Spanish East Indies which included the Philippines and other Pacific archipelagos, namely Guam and the Marianas Islands. After obtaining peace with various indigenous nations and kingdoms, Miguel López de Legazpi made Manila the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1571. The capital of the province of Albay in the Philippines, Legazpi City bears his name.

In 1528, Hernán Cortés established settlements in North America and López de Legazpi traveled to Mexico (New Spain) to start a new life. This was due to the death of his parents and his dissatisfaction with his eldest sibling, who inherited the family fortune. In Tlaxcala, he worked with Juan Garcés and Juan's sister, Isabel Garcés. López de Legazpi would go on to marry Isabel and have nine children with her. Isabel died in the mid-1550s.

Between 1528 and 1559 he worked as a leader of the financial department council and as the civil governor of Mexico City.

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