Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro González (16 March 1478 - 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru.

Pizarro, who was born into a poor family in Trujillo, Spain, chose to seek fortune and adventure in the New World. He went to the Gulf of Urabá and accompanied Vasco Núñez de Balboa on his crossing of the Panama Isthmus, becoming the first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. For a few years, he was mayor of newly founded Panama City, and he led two failed expeditions to Peru. Pizarro obtained permission from the Spanish crown to lead his third and successful expedition to conquer Peru in 1529.

When the locals on the coast resisted the invasion, Pizarro moved inland and established the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura. Pizarro captured the Incan emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca in November 1532 after a series of maneuvers. A ransom was demanded for the emperor's release, and Atahualpa filled a room with gold, but Pizarro charged him with multiple crimes and executed him in July 1533. Pizarro entered the Inca capital of Cuzco the same year, completing his conquest of Peru. He established the city of Lima in January 1535. Pizarro was eventually assassinated in 1541 as a result of political power struggles.