Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira

Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira or Neyra (1541-November 1595) was a Spanish navigator. Born in Zaragoza, he was the nephew of an appointee to the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1567, he and Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa sailed from Callao, in Peru, on an expedition to the South Pacific in search of the legendary Terra Australis. His voyage discovered Wake Island and the Marquesas Islands; he gave the Solomon Islands their name in 1568 and died on these islands.