Famed explorer Christopher Columbus was not Italian, as traditionally believed, but possibly a Sephardic Jew from Spain who concealed his true heritage to avoid persecution, a new genetic study suggests.
The research, led by Spanish scientists, aims to resolve long-standing uncertainty surrounding Columbus’ background. For years, historians have debated the birthplace of the 15th-century navigator, said to have hailed from Genoa, a republic on Italy’s northwest coast. However, DNA analysis of Columbus’ remains, housed in Seville Cathedral, has produced compelling evidence challenging this narrative, according to a report in the BBC.
“We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son. And both in the Y [male] chromosome and in the mitochondrial DNA [from the mother] of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin,” Forensic expert and investigator Miguel Lorente said in a documentary titled, Columbus DNA: The True Origin, which aired in Spain recently.
The research began in 2003 when forensic medicine professor José Antonio Lorente from Granada University, alongside historian Marcial Castro, exhumed what were thought to be Columbus’ remains from Seville Cathedral. Their findings, supported by historical context, suggest that Columbus may have hidden his Jewish roots or converted to Catholicism to avoid the religious persecution prevalent in Spain at the time.
Although researchers have yet to pinpoint Columbus’ exact birthplace, they believe it is likely somewhere in Western Europe, with Valencia, Spain, as a strong possibility, according to a report in the New York Post.
The term “Sephardic” derives from Sefarad, the Hebrew word for Spain. The DNA results, described by Lorente as “almost absolutely reliable,” dismiss numerous alternative theories about Columbus’ origins, including claims that he may have been born in countries such as Poland, Portugal or even Scandinavia.
Columbus is best known for his expeditions across the Atlantic, backed by the Spanish monarchy, in search of a new route to Asia. Instead, he made landfall in the Caribbean, igniting a wave of European exploration that would eventually lead to the colonisation of the Americas. While his voyages were significant for their historical impact, they have also been the subject of controversy due to the devastating consequences for the native populations of the Americas. His crew reportedly brutally treated indigenous people. According to a report in The Washington Post, Columbus’ men were known to have maimed and enslaved local people, including children.
Columbus died in 1506 in Valladolid, Spain, and his remains were moved multiple times over the centuries before finally resting in Seville.