Carlos Fitzcarrald

Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald López (6 July 1862 – 9 July 1897) was a Peruvian rubber baron. He was born in San Luis, Ancash, in a province which was later named after him. In the early 1890s, he discovered the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald, which was a portage route that allowed transportation from the Ucayali River into the Madre de Dios River basin. Fitzcarrald became known as the "King of Caucho" due to his success during the rubber boom. His enterprise exploited and enslaved Asháninka, Mashco-Piro, Harákmbut, Shipibo-Conibo and various other native groups, which were then dedicated to the extraction of rubber. Fitzcarrald drowned in a river accident on the Urubamba River in 1897, along with his Bolivian business partner Antonio de Vaca Díez.