Of Swiss and German descent Eugen Konrad Brunner was born at Zurich, Switzerland in 1915 and died under suspicious circumstances in Quito, Ecuador during 1984. Fleeing Nazi Germany as a young man Brunner arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador on the first day of January 1938. Disguising his Germanic heritage Brunner became known as “Eugenio” in Spanish, “Eugene” in English or “Gino” to his friends. After providing for basic needs Brunner became an avid historian, researcher, explorer, adventurer, mountaineer, linguist, writer, artist, teacher, diver and spy, whom devoted the majority of his life to researching history and exploring terra firma on an insatiable quest for truth and Inca gold.
Brunner’s early years in country were spent on Ecuador’s coast where over a period of time he learned to dive. Ultimately, Brunner logged over 5000 hours underwater exploring the coastal waters off the Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver) and Mar Bravo in search of sunken treasure. In later years Brunner also dove in certain frigid waters in the high altitudes of the Andes, as he was always captivated by the Andes and drawn to the mountains of the Llanganati. Over a period of nearly fifty years Brunner made over forty expeditions investigating and exploring the Llanganatis in his quest for answers and treasure. Brunner became world renowned as not only a leading expert on the subject, but as ... “the explorer with the best chance of discovering the Llanganati treasure.” In the early seventies Brunner commenced the arduous project of placing his life stories on paper, the result of which was an unpublished Spanish language manuscript containing numerous chapters. After Brunner’s untimely death his son-in-law Steven J Charbonneau acquired all rights to the manuscript, publishing one chapter as “Ecuador Explorer.”
