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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 science at the University of Granada who led the research, said that analysis revealed that Columbus’ DNA was “compatible” with Jewish ancestry. .
Over a 21-year investigation, DNA experts compared samples from the remains to samples from Columbus’ known relatives and descendants. “We have DNA from Christopher Columbus. Very partial, but enough. According to CNN, we have DNA from his son, Fernando Colon,” Professor Lorente said. said. “And both Fernando’s Y chromosome (male) and mitochondrial DNA (passed down from his mother) have traits consistent 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 the explorers 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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Research suggests Christopher Columbus may have hid his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism to escape religious persecution (Getty)
“DNA shows that Christopher Columbus’ origins were in the western Mediterranean,” Professor 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.”
An estimated 300,000 Jews lived in Spain before the time of the “Reyes Católicos”, when the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella forced Jews and Muslims to convert to Christianity. He ordered them to go into exile. 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” 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, Professor Lorente also confirmed the theory that the ruins of the Seville Cathedral belong 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. His remains were taken to Cuba in 1542, then to Cuba in 1795, and finally to Seville in 1898.
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.
