Gene Savoy

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Douglas Eugene "Gene" Savoy (May 11, 1927 – September 11, 2007) was an American author, explorer, and cleric. He is best known for his claims to have discovered more than 40 lost cities in Peru.

Born in Bellingham, Washington, and serving as a navy gunner during World War II, he rose to prominence in the 1960s for leading a number of expeditions into the dense Peruvian jungle. Known as the "real Indiana Jones,"^[1] Savoy was credited with finding four of Peru's most important archaeological sites, including Vilcabamba, the last refuge for the Incas before the Spanish conquistadors took over. He followed this up a year later in 1965 by being one of the first people to visit another site he called Gran Pajaten.^[2] Archaeologists have criticised his claims, eg his claim that King Solomon acquired gold and precious stones from Peru (Ophir) and have pointed out that finding the ruins in Peru “is about as hard as finding elephants in a zoo.”^[3] His claims to discoveries of Vilcabamba and Gran Pajaten and other sites are disputed.^[4] His claims for King Solomon's visits to Peru and white Chachapoyans are rejected by archaeologists. Many archaeologists considered him a charlatan who damaged sites, attracted looters, and appropriated the work of others.^[5] Archaeologist Keith Muscott said "Savoy's involvement in the Chachapoya saga clouds the scientific issues, attracts a lot of crackpots and scares off serious researchers who don't want to constantly have to deal with Savoy's tedious legacy of lost cities/El Dorado fantasies and delusions."^[6]

In 1969 Savoy built and captained the Kuviqu (also known as the Feathered Serpent I), a totora-reed raft of ancient design, along 2,000 miles of ocean coastline from Peru to Mesoamerica. He did this to prove that Peruvians and Mexicans could have maintained contact in ancient times and that the legendary heroes Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl were one and the same. Soon afterward he built and captained the Feathered Serpent II, which he sailed from the United States to the Caribbean, to Central and South America, and finally to Hawaii, to study ocean and wind currents.

In 1984, after a 13 year absence, Savoy began journeying back into Peru. The next year, he claimed to have discovered Gran Vilaya.

Gene Savoy wrote 60 books on religion and four on his explorations, including Antisuyo: The Search for the Lost Cities of the Amazon (1970) about his early discoveries in Peru.^[7]

As founder of a new theology known as Cosolargy, he established the International Community of Christ, Church of the Second Advent. He taught that the Second Coming of Christ had already become a living reality and that his son Jamil was in fact Christ.^[8]

He died at his home in Reno, Nevada, on September 11, 2007, aged 80, of natural causes.