EXPLORER

Gaspar de Portolá

1716 - 1786

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Captain Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1786) was a Spanish Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of the Californias from 1767 to 1770. Born in Catalonia into an aristocratic family, he is best known for leading the Portolá expedition into California, which laid the foundations of Spanish rule in the region Californian cities like San Diego and Monterey, and bestowed names to geographic features throughout California, many of which are still in use. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Gaspar de Portolá is the 162nd most popular explorer (up from 378th in 2019), the 565th most popular biography from Spain (up from 1,410th in 2019) and the 32nd most popular Spanish Explorer.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Gaspar de Portolá ranks 162 out of 498. Before him are Scylax of Caryanda, Martin Frobisher, Hans Staden, Gil Eanes, Cornelis de Houtman, and Adrien de Gerlache. After him are Enrique of Malacca, Otto Sverdrup, Emin Pasha, Isabelle Eberhardt, Fernão do Pó, and Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1716, Gaspar de Portolá ranks 7. Before him are Charles III of Spain, Capability Brown, Yosa Buson, Louise Diane d'Orléans, Étienne Maurice Falconet, and James Lind. After him are Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia, Joseph-Marie Vien, Yuan Mei, Antonio de Ulloa, Thomas Gray, and Jean-Jacques Barthélemy. Among people deceased in 1786, Gaspar de Portolá ranks 10. Before him are Peter III of Portugal, Maurice Benyovszky, Franz Benda, Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, John Goodricke, and Eva Ekeblad. After him are Tokugawa Ieharu, Princess Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar, Antonio Sacchini, John Stanley, Hans Joachim von Zieten, and Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.

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In Spain

Among people born in Spain, Gaspar de Portolá ranks 565 out of 3,355. Before him are Diego de Landa (1524), Tulga (622), Gundemar (600), García Ramírez of Navarre (1110), Theudigisel (500), and Estanislau Basora (1926). After him are Abraham Zacuto (1452), Alonzo Cano (1601), Ildefonsus (607), Míchel (1963), Josefa de Óbidos (1630), and Luis del Sol (1935).

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Among EXPLORERS In Spain

Among explorers born in Spain, Gaspar de Portolá ranks 32. Before him are Juan de Grijalva (1480), Sebastián de Belalcázar (1480), Andrés de Urdaneta (1498), Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1509), Rodrigo de Triana (1469), and João da Nova (1460). After him are Paulo da Gama (1465), Rodrigo de Bastidas (1460), Francisco de Montejo (1479), Pedro Arias Dávila (1443), Ruy López de Villalobos (1500), and Gerónimo de Aguilar (1489).

Spanish born Explorers

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