Juan de Fuca

Juan de Fuca (10 June 1536 – 23 July 1602) was a Greek sailor and explorer under the patronage of Philip II of Spain. He is best known for his claim to have explored the Strait of Anián—now known as the Strait of Juan de Fuca—between Vancouver Island (now part of British Columbia, Canada) and the Olympic Peninsula (now part of northwestern Washington state in the United States).

Name

"Juan de Fuca" is a hispanicization of the Greek name Ioannis Fokas or Phokas (Ἰωάννης Φωκᾶς), latinized as Johannes Phocas. However, his exact name is somewhat uncertain. Some sources state that his actual name was Apostolos Valerianos (Ἀπόστολος Βαλεριάνος). It is possible that he was baptized as Apostolos and later adopted the name Ioannis or Juan because Apóstol is not a common Spanish name. It is known that his father and grandfather bore the name Focas, so it seems likely that Valerianos was a nickname or epithet borrowed from the village where he grew up on Cephalonia.

Family and early life

De Fuca's grandfather Emmanouil Fokas (Ἐμμανουὴλ Φωκᾶς) fled Constantinople when it fell to Ottoman forces in 1453, accompanied by his brother Andronikos (Ἀνδρόνικος). The two settled first in the Peloponnese, where Andronikos remained, but in 1470 Emmanouil moved to the island of Cephalonia. Ioannis's father Iakovos (Ἰάκωβος) established himself in the village of Valerianos on the island and came to be known as "the Valeriano Fokas" (Φωκᾶς ὁ Βαλεριάνος, Fokas ho Valerianos) to distinguish him from his brothers.