Panfilo de Narvaez was a Spanish soldier, explorer, and Indian fighter. He helped conquer Cuba in 1511 and lost an eye trying to arrest Hernando Cortes in Mexico in 1521. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V granted him the unexplored land of Florida in 1526, and he led an expedition there in 1528. Landing near Tampa Bay, he marched inland and lost many of his men in storms and Indian attacks. Having been cut off from their ships, Narvaez and his men built five crude barges. They sailed along the coast to what is now south Texas. Narvaez's boat was forced out into the Gulf of Mexico by winds and currents, and he was drowned.

He was born in Valladolid.