"'Italian Explorer' Columbus Was a Spanish Jewish Descendant," Spanish Researchers Announce

DNA Analysis Results Revealed

Research results revealing that Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer, was actually a Spanish Jew have attracted attention.

According to foreign media reports including Reuters and BBC on the 13th, Spanish forensic scientist Dr. Miguel Lorente is known to have reached this conclusion through 22 years of research. Dr. Lorente stated that analysis of Columbus's remains enshrined in Seville Cathedral and his son's somatic cells revealed characteristics consistent with Jewish lineage from Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA.

Statue of Christopher Columbus erected in Plaza de Col?n in downtown Madrid, Spain
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Until now, Columbus was known as an Italian. The conventional belief was that he was born in Genoa, Italy in 1450, and about 40 years later, on October 12, 1492, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived at the American continent.

Because of this, Italian Americans once pursued making 'Columbus Day' a legal holiday to commemorate Columbus. They were also actively lobbying the U.S. Congress.

However, in academia, there have been continuous claims that Columbus's hometown was not Italy, citing that he embarked on the New World exploration under the patronage of the Spanish royal family. There were theories ranging from him being a Spanish Jew to being from Greece or Portugal.

Meanwhile, the history of Spanish Jews dates back to the 1st century during the Roman Empire. During the Islamic dynasty's rule over the Iberian Peninsula (where Spain and Portugal are located), the Spanish Jewish community also flourished. However, after Christian forces expelled Islam from Spain in 1492, their fate changed. It is estimated that about 300,000 Spanish Jews were ordered to convert to Catholicism or leave the country.

The research team confirmed that Columbus was a Spanish Jew but failed to identify his country of birth. They analyzed 25 candidate birthplaces, but consensus was reached that 'Western European birth' is the safest conclusion.

Columbus was once hailed as a hero for being the first European to discover the American continent, but recently he has also been criticized as a symbol of European exploitation. In the U.S., some regions such as Oregon, Boston, and Philadelphia commemorate Columbus Day under the name 'Indigenous Peoples' Day.'