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New DNA research on the 500-year-old remains of Christopher Columbus reveals that the controversial explorer was actually a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe.
Spanish researchers presented their findings in a new documentary titled “Columbus’s DNA: The True Origin,” which aired on Spanish national broadcaster TVE. Since 2003, scientists have been testing samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, Spain, believed to be the 15th century explorer’s final resting place.
In the documentary, José Antonio Lorente, a professor of forensic medicine at the University of Granada who led the study, said that analysis revealed that Columbus’ DNA was “compatible” with Jewish origins.
Throughout the 21-year investigation, DNA experts compared samples of the bodies with samples from known relatives and descendants. “We have DNA from Christopher Columbus. Very partial, but enough. We have DNA from our son Fernando Colon,” Lorente said, according to CNN. Ta. “And there are traits in both Fernando’s Y chromosome (male) and mitochondrial DNA (passed down from his mother) that are compatible with Jewish origins.”
Columbus was previously thought to have been an Italian from Genoa, born in 1451 into a woolen family. Historians have long suggested that Columbus may have been Greek, Basque, Portuguese, or British. Researchers were unable to pinpoint Columbus’ birthplace, but after analyzing 25 possible locations, they agreed that he was likely from Spain’s Mediterranean region.
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DNA research suggests Christopher Columbus may have hid his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism to escape religious persecution (Getty Images)
“DNA shows that Christopher Columbus’ origins lie in the western Mediterranean,” Lorente said. “Even if there were no Jews in Genoa in the 15th century, it is extremely unlikely that he was from there.The rest of the Italian peninsula also did not have a large Jewish presence, which makes the situation It makes it very unstable.”
Before the time of the Reyes Católicos, there were an estimated 300,000 Jews living in Spain. During this period, the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella ordered Jews and Muslims to convert to Christianity or be deported. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain occurred in 1492, the same year that Columbus made his first voyage to the Americas.
Researchers now believe that Columbus either hid his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism to escape religious persecution. The term Sephardic Jews is derived from the Hebrew word Sephard, which refers to the Iberian Peninsula, which includes present-day Spain and Portugal.
As a result of his research, Lorente also confirmed the theory that the ruins of the Seville Cathedral belonged to Columbus. “The results are almost completely reliable,” he said.
Columbus died in 1506 in Valladolid, Spain. Columbus wanted to be buried on the island of Hispaniola, which is now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and his remains were taken there in 1542. His remains were then moved to Cuba in 1795. Finally in 1898 he went to Seville.
With the support of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Columbus completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean to Spain. However, his conquest and subsequent genocide and colonization of the indigenous peoples of the Americas have been widely condemned. As a result, many states and cities in the United States have established a holiday in honor of the explorer to recognize the violence committed against Native Americans since Columbus and his crew arrived on their shores. We decided to change the name of the day.
