Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the Americas, crossing the Isthmus of Darién in September 1513 and claiming the South Sea for Castile. His success as a colonial administrator was remarkable by the brutal standards of the conquest, but he was arrested and beheaded on treason charges by his rival Pedrarias Dávila in 1519.
- Lived: 1475 CE – 1519 CE
- Nationality: spanish
- Roles: explorer, conquistador, governor
