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'Juan Díaz de Solís', (1470 – January 20 1516), was a Portuguese explorer in the service of Spain.
Born João Dias de Sólis, he trained as a navigator in Portugal until 1504, when he was forced to flee to Spain for unnamed reasons, possibly the sharing of secret Portuguese information with the Spaniards.Arthur Davies, "The First Discovery and Exploration of the Amazon in 1498-99," Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers), no. 22 (1956).. He served as navigator on expeditions to the Yucatan in 1506 and Brazil in 1508 with Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. He became a pilot-major in 1512 following the death of Amerigo Vespucci, and was thereafter commissioned to update the Padrón Real with Juan Vespucci.AGI, "Comisión a Juan Díaz de Solís y Juan Vespucci", ES.41091.AGI/16404.46.5.1//CONTRATACION,5784,L.1,F.20-21. Two years after appointment to this office, Díaz de Solís prepared an expedition to explore the southern part of the new continent. His three ships and crew of 70 men sailed from Sanlucar de Barrameda on October 8, 1515. He followed the eastern coast as far as the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. He reached and named the Rio de la Plata in 1516, sailing up river to the confluence of the Uruguay River and Paraná River with two officers and seven men.
The little party had not proceeded far when they were attacked by local Charrua or Guarani. Surviving crew members reported Díaz de Solís and most of the other men were killed and cannibalized, thus putting the expedition to an end. Some sources believe that Díaz de Solís was killed in a mutiny and the story about being killed and cannibalized was forged by his crew. His brother-in-law, Francisco de Torres, took charge of the ships and returned to Spain.

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See also

★ List of explorers

★ Explorations

Notes

References

★ Archivo General de Indias, "Comisión a Juan Díaz de Solís y Juan Vespucci",ES.41091.AGI/16404.46.5.1//CONTRATACION,5784,L.1,F.20-21

★ A. Teixeira da Mota, "Some Notes on the Organization of Hydrographical Services in Portugal before the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century," Imago Mundi 28 (1976).

★ Edward L. Stevenson, "The Geographical Activities of the Casa De La Contratacion," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 17, no. 2 (1927).

★ Arthur Davies, "The First Discovery and Exploration of the Amazon in 1498-99," Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers), no. 22 (1956).