In the 1920s, after meeting Rondon on a trip to Brazil, Albert Einstein nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, and, in 1956, the Brazilian government renamed a territory of ninety-four thousand square miles—nearly twice the size of England—Rondônia in his honor. Two years later, on January 19, 1958, having explored and mapped more of the Amazon than any other man alive, and having made first contact with dozens of isolated Indian tribes, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon died in his own bed at his home in Rio de Janeiro.
