Who was the last Aztec tlatoani of Tenochtitlan?

Cuauhtémoc was the last Aztec tlatoani of Tenochtitlan. He became ruler in 1520, during the Spanish invasion, and led the city’s final defense before its capture in 1521.

Cuauhtémoc succeeded Cuitláhuac, who had followed Moctezuma II but died soon afterward during a smallpox epidemic. Cuauhtémoc was chosen by the highest nobles according to the Mexica practice of selecting a capable ruler from the elite rather than simply following automatic hereditary succession.

His reign was brief and dominated by war. Tenochtitlan was increasingly isolated as Spanish forces gained Indigenous allies, and after an eighty-day siege Cuauhtémoc was captured on August 13, 1521, while attempting to flee across Lake Texcoco. The city fell soon afterward.

A common mix-up is naming Moctezuma II, the ruler best known from the first Spanish encounters. Cuitláhuac was his successor, but Cuauhtémoc followed Cuitláhuac and was the final tlatoani associated with independent Mexica rule. Cuauhtémoc was later held by the Spanish and killed in 1525.