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Joan Orpí i del Pou, alsoJuan Orpín orJuan Urpín (1593 inPiera – 1 July 1645 inBarcelona, Venezuela) was a Spanishconquistador, known for foundingNew Barcelona inVenezuela, and for founding the short-livedProvince of New Catalonia (1633–1654).[1]
In 1623 he journeyed toAraya. In 1624 the Governor ofNew Andalusia Province,Diego de Arroyo Daza, named OrpíLieutenant General of the province, a position he held until 1627/8. That year theReal Audiencia of Santo Domingo recognised the law degree he had obtained in Barcelona, and he began acting as a legal representative of the Audiencia in Caracas.
In 1631 he moved to Santo Domingo, where the difficulty of communication between theVenezuela Province (Caracas) and theNew Andalusia Province (Cumaná) was a matter of some concern. He agreed to launch an expedition to secure the territory between theUnare River and theNeverí River, inhabited by theCumanagotos, and was granted the royal privilege to do so, despite opposition from others. His expedition began in 1632 but had to be called off when the privilege was revoked, and he had to plead a case to the Audiencia and to theCouncil of the Indies to regain it, which he was able to do in 1636.
A second expedition was launched in 1637, and Orpí foundedNew Barcelona (Nueva Barcelona del Cerro Santo) in February 1638. New Barcelona became the capital of the Province of Nueva Cataluña he created in 1633, extending along the coast fromSan Felipe de Austria (Cariaco) toCabo Codera, and down to theOrinoco River. After his death in 1645 the Province did not last long, being merged intoNew Andalusia Province in 1654, while New Barcelona had to be refounded in 1671.
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