The centuries-old mystery of Christopher Columbus’s nationality, the discoverer of America, has been solved by scientists using DNA analysis in the Spanish television documentary Columbus’ DNA, His True Origin. Christopher Columbus was a Jew from the western Mediterranean.
The film shows 22 years of research led by Jose Antonio Lorente, a forensic scientist and professor at the University of Granada. This research included the analysis of hundreds of bones and documents.
The research was conducted on the remains buried in Seville Cathedral, which the authorities have long designated as Columbus’ final resting place. There were controversies about whether he was really buried there, but new evidence proved it. Scientists compared the navigator’s DNA with his known relatives and descendants. The analysis of the bones of his son Hernando Colón, well preserved in the same temple, was decisive.
Scientists have chosen eight of the most plausible out of 25 possible versions of Christopher Columbus’ origin. The hypotheses, presented with documentary and historical facts, were tested one by one until the DNA test result destroyed almost all of them.
Many historians have questioned the traditional theory that Columbus came from Genoa in northwestern Italy. Other theories ranged from him being a Spanish Jew, Greek, Basque, or Portuguese. Professor Jose Antonio Lorente of the University of Granada confirms that Columbus was Jewish.
Catalan researcher Francesc Albardaner, former president of the Center dʼEstudis Colombins in Barcelona, is convinced that the DNA results completely rule out the story that Columbus was an Italian from Genoa. According to him, historical evidence confirms that Genoa expelled the Jews in the twelfth century — “there were no people, no community, no synagogue, nothing at all. The Jews could stay in Genoa for only three days to settle their affairs, and then they had to leave.”
In old historical books, Columbus is described as a good Christian. However, in reality, he hid his origins because, in the fifteenth century, Jews were given an ultimatum to leave the possessions of Catholic monarchs. Therefore, the navigator had to pretend that he had been a Christian, a Catholic, all his life.
Christopher Columbus died in 1506 at the age of 55 in the northwestern Spanish city of Valladolid. Still, he wanted to be buried on the island of Española in the Pacific Ocean near the Caribbean islands. His remains were transported there in 1542 and then to Cuba in 1795. They arrived in Seville, Spain, only in 1898.
Christopher Columbus is believed to have discovered America on October 12, 1492. On this day, his expedition first reached the shores of the New World.
