Portuguese statesman and navigator. He was the second Viceroy of Portuguese India, between 1509 and 1515, whose military, religious and political actions were decisive for the establishment of the Portuguese Empire in the Indian Ocean. Nicknamed "the Terrible", "the Great", "the Lion of the Seas", "the Portuguese Mars", and "the Caesar of the East", he was recognized as a military genius for the success of his expansion strategy: he sought to close all naval passages to the Indian Ocean - in the Atlantic, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean - building a chain of fortresses at key points to transform it into a Portuguese "mare clausum", overcoming the power of the Ottomans and their Hindu allies. He stood out both for his ferocity in battle and for the many diplomatic contacts he established. Appointed governor after a long military career in North Africa, in just six years, with a force never exceeding four thousand men, he succeeded in establishing the capital of the Portuguese State of India in Goa, which he conquered in 1510, conquer Malacca in 1511, the easternmost point of Indian trade, reach the coveted "Spice Islands", the Moluccas, in 1512, dominate Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf, in 1515 and establish diplomatic contacts with numerous kingdoms in India, Ethiopia, Kingdom of Siam, Safavid Empire (Persia) and even the Ming Empire (China). Aden would be the only strategic point whose domain failed, although it led the first European fleet to sail in the Red Sea, upstream of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Shortly before his death, according to some sources, he would have been awarded the title of Duke of Goa by King Manuel I, which he never enjoyed. In this hypothesis, he would have been the first Portuguese to receive an overseas title and the first duke born outside the royal family. He was the second European man to found a city in Asia, the first being Alexander the Great. Albuquerque's career came to a painful and ignominious end. In the Portuguese court he had several enemies who did not miss the opportunity to stir up the envy of King Manuel I against him, insinuating that he wanted independence from power in India. His conduct, at times reckless and tyrannical, served these ends perfectly. On his way back from Hormuz in 1515, at the entrance to the port of Goa, he came across a ship from Europe that brought the news of his replacement by his personal enemy Lopo Soares de Albergaria, leader of the group that had opposed him when he replaced the last Viceroy. He reportedly said: "Grave must be my sins before the King, for I am in ill favor with the King for love of the men, and with the men for love of the King." The blow was too much for him, who died aboard a ship just off the port of Goa, on December 16, 1515. In Goa, his body was received by an enormous crowd that did not believe that Albuquerque had died. He was carried in a chair, surrounded by torches and was mourned by both the Portuguese and the Hindus. Thus he was buried in the Church of Nossa Senhora da Serra (Our Lady of the Hill) which he had ordered to be built in 1513, in fulfillment of a vow for having saved himself with his ship from shallows on the Kamaran Island. His son Brás de Albuquerque published his biography in 1557. In 1566, his body was moved to Portugal, where he was buried in the Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça (Our Lady of Grace), in Lisbon. In 1572, his actions were described in "Os Lusíadas" ("The Lusiads"), the Portuguese main epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões. In consequence of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, his tomb was destroyed and lost forever. The church was rebuilt but the exact place where he is buried remains unknown.