Decades-Long DNA Investigation Reveals Surprising Roots of Christopher Columbus’ Family History
Christopher Columbus was an important navigator whose background has long been scrutinized. The explorer, by his admission, claimed in a deed that he was born in the Italian port city of Genoa, according to Science Alert. However, some new findings indicate that Columbus may not have revealed everything about his birth in his will.
The doubts regarding Columbus' birthplace have been posed by multiple experts across decades. However, there was never enough proof to challenge the man's statement, "because from it I came and in it I was born," directed at Genoa in the will. The explorer reportedly had an estate in the area, which he wanted to be maintained for his family.
For decades, a team led by the scientist José Antonio Lorente from the University of Granada in Spain conducted examinations to verify the authenticity of the claim. In 2024, they announced that the investigation had given them concrete proof, indicating that Columbus was actually born in Spain to parents of Jewish ancestry, rather than in Italy.
The investigation started in 2003 when Lorente exhumed certain remains from Seville Cathedral, which were believed to be of Columbus. stated BBC. The team took DNA samples from Columbus' remains as well as from the bones of Hernando, Columbus's son, and Diego, his brother. Therafter, the experts compared the extracted DNA with the samples taken from other historical figures from different countries and regions across the world.
The objective was to figure out how much similarity Columbus' and his family's DNA had with the available samples. The results were broadcast in a documentary movie shown on Spain’s national broadcaster, RTVE. Along with shedding light on Columbus' origin, the movie celebrating Columbus' arrival anniversary in the Americas also claims that the remains housed in Seville Cathedral indeed belonged to the explorer. The team claimed that with the aid of advanced technology, they have concluded that the remains being examined were of Columbus, and also that some of his body parts could be in the Dominican Republic.
The team claimed that Columbus was possibly born in Spain, primarily due to the revelation of his Jewish roots, stated CNN. "We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son," forensic expert Miguel Lorente said in the program titled Columbus DNA: The true origin. "And both in the Y chromosome (male) and in the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted by the mother) of Hernando, there are traits compatible with Jewish origin."
The examination indicated to researchers that the individual was born somewhere in Western Europe. It is well-known that Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ordered around 300,000 Jews to either leave Spain or convert to Catholicism around the 15th century. Researchers believe it is possible that Columbus left Spain during these times and took asylum in Italy, based on his Jewish roots.
Though intriguing, the findings need to be verified by other researchers before being considered a reality, according to Science Alert. "Unfortunately, from a scientific point of view, we can't really evaluate what was in the documentary because they offered no data from the analysis whatsoever," former director of Spain's National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, Antonio Alonso, shared. If the assertion turns out to be true, then Columbus' story becomes the remarkable tale of a man who became a pioneer by discovering the New World after escaping persecution.