Martín Fernández de Enciso (c. 1470 – 1528) was a Spanish lawyer, colonial official and geographer.
He was instrumental in the colonization of the Isthmus of Darien, one of Spain's earliest attempts to occupy the mainland of the Americas.
By 1508 he had a thriving legal practice in Santo Domingo, the capital of the first Spanish colony in the Americas.
Gold mining was the primary activity in the colony and Enciso made his fortune from the frequent litigation in the industry.
In his work, “Suma de Geografía,” Fernández states that they found an indigenous population who called themselves the “'Veneciuela.’” This suggests that the name "Venezuela" may have evolved from the native word.