Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz

Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz (12 December 1526 – 9 February 1588), was a Spanish admiral and nobleman. He took part, among others, in the seizure of the rock of Vélez de la Gomera (1564), the relief to the besieged during the sieges of Oran (1563) and Malta (1565), the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the conquest of Tunis (1573), the incorporation of Portugal to the Spanish monarchy (1580), and the conquest of Terceira (1582).

A leading admiral in both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, like his father before him, Bazán has been considered the prime naval commander in the history of Spain. He made developments in amphibious warfare and pioneered the strategic usage of several kinds of ships, refining the design of existent vessels and popularising galleons as warships, ultimately making possible many of the successes of the Spanish Empire since the 16th and 17th centuries. For his leadership and influence, Bazán was celebrated by Miguel de Cervantes as el Padre de los Soldados ("the Father of the Soldiers"). He was reputed to have never lost a battle under his command, a remarkable achievement in a fifty-year-long military career.

He was a grandee of Spain and a patron of the arts. He built the Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz in Viso, Spain, which currently houses the General Archive of the Spanish Navy.