Hernán Pérez de Quesada, sometimes spelled as Quezada, was a Spanish conquistador. Second in command of the army of his elder brother, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Hernán was part of the first European expedition towards the inner highlands of the Colombian Andes. The harsh journey, taking almost a year and many deaths, led through the modern departments Magdalena, Cesar, Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Huila of present-day Colombia between 1536 and 1539 and, without him, Meta, Caquetá and Putumayo of Colombia and northern Peru and Ecuador between 1540 and 1542.
Hernán, as Spanish conquistador, wore an armoured uniform
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada was Hernán's elder brother and commander of the conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada.
When the expedition into the heart of Colombia of Gonzalo and Hernán de Quesada reached Chipatá, at the border of Guane and Muisca territories, the curious but cautious indigenous people provided the conquistadors with fresh cotton mantles for their journey into the Altiplano Cundiboyacense
Hernán and Francisco de Quesada died of a lightning strike offshore the northeastern Colombian desert Cabo de la Vela
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named by him New Kingdom of Granada, and founded its capital, Santafé de Bogotá. As a well-educated lawyer he was one of the intellectuals of the Spanish conquest. He was an effective organizer and leader, designed the first legislation for the government of the area, and was its historian. He was governor of Cartagena between 1556 and 1557, and after 1569 he undertook explorations toward the east, searching for the elusive El Dorado. The campaign didn't succeed and Jiménez then returned to New Granada in 1573. He has been suggested as a possible model for Cervantes' Don Quixote.
Suesca, the place where Quesada wrote his books.
Jiménez de Quesada
Statue
Coat of arms