Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo, c.1499-1579, Spanish conquistador in Colombia. Chief magistrate of Santa Marta, he was commissioned to explore the Magdalena in search of El Dorado. He set out in 1536, and after incredible hardships he defeated the Chibcha and founded (1538) Bogotá as capital of the New Kingdom of Granada (see New Granada). A hard taskmaster but an able leader, Quesada wavered between humane and brutal treatment of the native population. He obtained fabulous amounts of emeralds and gold. Meeting Federmann and Benalcázar, who claimed the same territory, Quesada persuaded them to return with him to Spain, where settlement could be made. There he was ignored until 1550, when he was appointed marshal of New Granada and councilor of Bogotá for life. In 1569, still seeking El Dorado, he led a lavishly equipped expedition to the confluence of the Guaviare and Orinoco; he and what remained of his company returned wasted and penniless after three years. Still later, suffering from a skin disease and carried on a litter, Quesada put down an indigenous revolt. Some think that he was the model for Cervantes's Don Quixote. His own account of his conquests has been lost, but excerpts copied by others from the original survive.

(See below for disambiguation of the names Jiménez and Ximenes)

Jiménez [archaic Ximénez/Ximenes] is a surname of Iberian origin, first appearing in the Basque lands. Jiménez is a patronymic construction from the modern-styled given name Jimeno, plus the Spanish suffix -ez, meaning "son [of]". Variants of the surname include the archaic Ximénez, Jimenes, Ximenes, Giménez, Gimenes, as well as Chimeno, and Semenes.

In Spanish orthography, when the stress of a word falls on the penultimate syllable and the word ends with an "N", "S" or a vowel, the word need not carry a diacritic on the vowel of the stressed syllable (in this case é). In English orthography, all variations are commonly written without the diacritic -- Jimenez, Ximenez, Gimenez, Jimenes, Ximenes, and Gimenes.

In Portuguese language orthography, there is no diacritic used for Ximenes.

Portuguese Descent

When the modern name Ximenes has an -es suffix, it is almost certainly of Portuguese, Galician or Old Spanish origin, as the orthographic change to -ez (and indeed, the consonant shift from X to J) was revised in Spain only in the late 1700s. This obviously was not the case in Portugal.

Other languages in Castilian-dominated lands like Catalonia, Galicia, Aragon, etc. often retained the -es ending, and their descendants bear witness to this historical anomaly.

The name Ximenes itself is thought to derive as both surname and place name from the common Iberian territory of Galicia, since Lusophone linguists believe the Galician language is the forebear of both Modern Portuguese and Modern Spanish.

Ximenes, as such, exists most commonly in Portugal, and in all of the ex-Portuguese Crown territories, especially in Brazil. Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Nobel Laureate from East Timor in 1996, and Brazilian actress, Mariana Ximenes, are prime examples of this historical difference.

People

• Francisco Jimenez,(1979-), Biomedical Engineer, Southern California Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
• Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, (1948–), Roman Catholic Bishop of East Timor, Nobel Laureate
• Alex Jimenez, (1982–), United States Army soldier missing in action in Iraq
• Carmita Jimenez, (1944–2003), Puerto Rican singer
• Christian Jimenez, (1986–), American soccer player
• Antonio Luis Jiménez, (1984–), Chilean soccer player
• Elvio Jiménez, (1940–), Major League Baseball player
• Flaco Jiménez, (1939–), Mexican-American musician
• Iker Jiménez, (1973–), Spanish journalist
• José Alfredo Jiménez, (1926–1973), Mexican singer-songwriter
• Jose Jimenez, (1973–), Major League Baseball player
• Joyce Jimenez (1978–), Filipino-American actress
• Juan Isidro Jimenes, (1847–1919), President of the Dominican Republic
• Juan Ramón Jiménez, (1881–1958), Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate
• Manny Jiménez, (1938–), Major League Baseball player
• Marcos Pérez Jiménez, (1914–2001), President of Venezuela 1952–1958
• Miguel Ángel Jiménez, (1964–), Top Spanish professional golfer
• Oscar Jimenez, (contemporary), Comic book artist
• Phil Jimenez, (contemporary), American comic book writer
• Ramón Jiménez Gaona (1969–), Paraguayan discus thrower
• Roberto Jiménez, (1983–), Peruvian soccer professional
• Sérgio Jimenez, (1984–), Brazilian racing driver
• Fortún Ximénez, (unknown–1533) Spanish sailor and founder of first known European settlement in Baja California
• Francisco Ximenes de Cisneros, (1436-1517), Spanish Cardinal, inquisitor and statesman (called in his lifetime, Ximenes de Cisneros)
• Didacus Ximenes, (d. 1560), Spanish monk, theologian, rector of the University of Salamanca
• Sebastiano Ximenes, (c. late-1500s), Italian banker of Portuguese origin in Florence, patron of the Arts
• Moäng Ratu Dona Ines Ximenes da Silva of Flores, (c. 1700), lady sovereign and member of the Portuguese Ximenes da Silva ruling family of the island-principality of Flores, in present-day Indonesia
• Leonardo Ximenes, (1716-1786), Italian mathematician, engineer, astronomer and geographer
• Morris Ximenes, (c. 1762-1830), English Jewish businessman who converted to Christianity; had a son, also called Sir David Ximenes, named for his uncle
• General Sir David Ximenes, (d. 1848), KCH, Berkshire magistrate, owner of stately home, Bear Ash, youngest brother of Morris Ximenes
• Ettore Ximenes, (1855-1926), Italian sculptor
• Michel Ximenes, (1939–), French politician, lawyer
• Claudio de Jesus Ximenes, (contemporary) Supreme Court Chief Justice of East Timor
• Rev. Francisco de Vasconcelos Ximenes, (d. September 10, 1999), Timorese Protestant minister assassinated in Indonesia; has a namesake son who is also a missionary minister
• João Ximenes Braga, (contemporary), Brazilian journalist and soap opera writer
• Mariana Ximenes, (1981–), Brazilian actress
• Orion Ximenes Filho, (1945–), Brazilian actor, voice-over artist
• Paulo César Ximenes, (1943–), Brazilian economist
• Julio Ximenes Senior, (1901-1975), Brazilian scientist, author, and World War II Army general

Illustration for the Ximenes of Poissy, France clan. Their descendants also reside in Brazil.

Motto (Latin): In Deo Æternum (Into God Eternally).

An alternate coat of arms is assigned to the Ximenes of Bear Ash/Place clan by the College of Arms, in the United Kingdom. The coat of arms is described thusly, "Ximenes of Bear Place. Or two bars gules with a pale countercoloured over all and a border azure."

Pseudonyms

• Ximenes, pseudonym of Derrick Somerset Macnutt (1902–1971), British crossword compiler

Fictional Persons

• Jose Jimenez, fictional character created by comedian Bill Dana

Ruling Dynasty

The Jiménez dynasty in 905 became kings of Pamplona, eventually expanding control to most of Christian Spain.

External links

• Coat of Arms of the Spanish version of the name, Jiménez
• Meaning & Origin of the Spanish "Jiménez"
• Meaning & Origin of the Portuguese "Ximenes"
• French entry on Eneko Arista, First King of Vascony, son of Iñigo (or Eneko) Ximenes Arista, Comte de Bigorre, Semen de Gascogne"
• Women in Power: Moäng Ratu Dona Ines Ximenes da Silva of Flores (Indonesia)
• Liceo Ginnasio Statale "Leonardo Ximenes"
• Italian entry on Sebastiano Ximenes' "Palazzo Ximenes de Sangallo"
• Historical information on one line of the Ximenes family in Britain
• João Ximenes Braga's [[O Globo] blog]
• Mariana Ximenes at the Internet Movie Database
• Orion Ximenes at the Internet Movie Database