Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo (gōnthä`lō hēmā`nĕth dā kāsä`thä), c.1499–1579, Spanish conquistador in Colombia. Chief magistrate of Santa Marta, he was commissioned to explore the Magdalena Magdalena (mägthälā`nä), river, c.
..... Click the link for more information. in search of El Dorado El Dorado (ĕl`dərä`dō, –rā`–) [Span.
..... Click the link for more information. . He set out in 1536, and after incredible hardships he defeated the Chibcha Chibcha (chĭb`chə), indigenous people of the eastern cordillera of the Andes of Colombia.
..... Click the link for more information. and founded (1538) Bogotá Bogotá (bōgōtä`), city (1993 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. as capital of the New Kingdom of Granada (see New Granada New Granada (grənä`də), former Spanish colony, N South America.
..... Click the link for more information. ). A hard taskmaster but an able leader, Quesada wavered between humane and brutal treatment of the native population. He obtained fabulous amounts of emeralds and gold. Meeting Federmann Federmann, Nikolaus (nē`kōlous fā`dərmän), 1501–42, German adventurer in Venezuela and Colombia.
..... Click the link for more information. and Benalcázar Benalcázar or Belalcázar, Sebastián de
..... Click the link for more information. , who claimed the same territory, Quesada persuaded them to return with him to Spain, where settlement could be made. There he was ignored until 1550, when he was appointed marshal of New Granada and councilor of Bogotá for life. In 1569, still seeking El Dorado, he led a lavishly equipped expedition to the confluence of the Guaviare and Orinoco; he and what remained of his company returned wasted and penniless after three years. Still later, suffering from a skin disease and carried on a litter, Quesada put down an indigenous revolt. Some think that he was the model for Cervantes's Don Quixote. His own account of his conquests has been lost, but excerpts copied by others from the original survive.

Bibliography

See studies by A. F. Bandelier (1893, repr. 1962), C. R. Markham (1912, repr. 1971), G. Arciniegas (tr. 1942, repr. 1968), and R. B. C. Graham (1922, repr. 1973).

Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo

(born c. 1495, Córdoba or Granada, Spain—died Feb. 16, 1579, Mariquita, New Granada) Spanish conquistador. He went to the New World as a colonial chief magistrate, then in 1536 he led an expedition of 900 men up the Magdalena River into the central plain of New Granada (modern Colombia), defeating the Chibcha Indians to win the land for Spain. In 1538 two rival conquistadores challenged his claim of conquest; the case was submitted to the crown in Madrid and was inconclusively settled, but Jiménez became the most influential person in New Granada. In 1569 he set out in search of the mythical El Dorado with 500 men; he returned in 1571 with only 25 of his original company.