Juan de Ayolas
Died	1537 Paraguay
Occupation	Conquistador
Religious beliefs	Catholic

Juan de Ayolas (died c. 1537) was a conquistador who explored the watershed of the Rio de la Plata for the Spanish crown. He accompanied Pedro de Mendoza on his 1534 expedition to colonize the region between the Rio de la Plata and the Straits of Magellan and briefly succeeded him as the second governor of the region after Mendoza returned home in 1537.

Seeking supplies, he sailed up the Paraná River and founded a fort called "Corpus Christi", as Sebastian Cabot had before him. Leaving Domingo Martínez de Irala at Puerto la Candelaria (modern Fuerte Olimpo,) he sailed up the Paraguay River seeking a connection to Peru. He fought with the Guaraní, crossed the Chaco to the Andes, and seized some booty there, but as he returned was killed with every man of his company by the Payagua.

The city of Ayolas in Paraguay, and its airport (IATA: AYO, ICAO: SGAY,) are named for him.

[edit] Sources

• Britannica Online Encyclopedia
• 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

MAURA, Juan Francisco. Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: el gran burlador de América. Parnaseo/Lemir. Valencia:Universidad de Valencia, 2008.http://parnaseo.uv.es/lemir/Textos/Maura.pdf

Preceded by Pedro de Mendoza

Governor of New Andalusia 1537

Succeeded by Domingo Martínez de Irala