Gonçalo Velho Cabral was a navigator, knight of the House of Prince Henry the Navigator, to whom is attributed the discovery of the islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel, of which he was the first Donatary Captain, and also responsible for their settlement.
Gonçalo Velho Cabral das Pias was born at the dawn of the 15th century and presumably died in the 1460s. A professed knight of the Order of Christ, commander of Almourol, and lord of Pias, he was one of Prince Henry’s closest collaborators.
According to the information conveyed by the Azorean chronicler Gaspar Frutuoso, Gonçalo Velho Cabral discovered the islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel in 1432. To reach these conclusions, he relied on “the recollections of the grave men” of São Miguel island, and also on the coeval information conveyed by João de Barros, according to which Gonçalo Velho had introduced small cattle and settlers on the islands at the Prince’s request.
In the year before arriving at the island of Santa Maria, he might have discovered the Formigas Islets, following a first exploratory voyage. Benefitting from his capacity of Donatary Captain for five years, he started the settlement of Santa Maria island in 1439 and of São Miguel island in 1444, promoting the clearing of the territory, slash-and-burn, and donating sesmarias [form of land distribution] to the settlers.
On his return to Portugal in 1455, Gonçalo Velho Cabral asked King Afonso V to make his nephew Nuno Velho Donatory captain of the islands. We do not know for certain the date of his birth and death, but we do know that he lived during the 15th century and that he died during the 1460s.
Although there are other theories about the discovery of the Azores, and there are no absolute guarantees about the decisive role played by Gonçalo Velho Cabral, he continues to prevail as one of the protagonists of the history and settlement of the Azorean archipelago. In 1956 a statue was placed in his honour in the main square of Ponta Delgada.