Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) was a Spanish explorer, a Castilian noble, who reached the western coast of the isthmus of Darien (Panama) in 1513, and established a settlement there. By reaching there, he became the first European to see the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean, and thus discovered the Pacific. He took possession of the territory in the name of Spain. However, he was put to death by a new governor, from jealousy of the glory he had acquired and the consequent influence in the State.