Centuries-Old Christopher Columbus Mystery Finally Solved

For centuries, researchers have pondered the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, calling into question the widely accepted belief that the explorer hailed from Genoa, Italy, before settling in Spain for the remainder of his life. Many historians theorized that he could have been of Basque, Catalan, Galician, Greek, Portuguese, and possibly Jewish descent. In 2002, a team of dedicated researchers, led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente, began an exhausting decades-long investigation to pinpoint Christopher Columbus’s origins by testing tiny samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, the location marked by authorities as the last resting place of the explorer, which has since been heavily scrutinized.

Over the course of their 22-year-long investigation, the team of researchers compared the DNA samples of Christopher Columbus with several of his verified relatives and descendants. To unveil their findings, the team appeared in the documentary Columbus DNA: The True Origin, which was broadcast on the Spanish television network TVE on October 12.

In a dramatic reveal, Lorente presented his team’s findings, which he claims prove the origins of the explorer. “We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient,” Lorente said. “We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son. And both in the Y chromosome and in the mitochondrial DNA of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin.”  

When explaining the exact location of Christopher Columbus’ birthplace, the team of researchers led by Lorente believes that the explorer was most likely born in Western Europe, with the city of Valencia, Spain, as the most viable answer. The team of researchers has concluded that it is also likely that he may have concealed his Jewish identity or even converted to Catholicism in order to evade the threat of religious persecution, which was rampant in the region during the late 1400s.

The final resting place of Christopher Columbus’ remains have been called into question for centuries, thanks to the numerous journeys that his corpse took part in. It is believed that the explorer died in May 1506 in the city of Valladolid, Spain following a lengthy battle with several illnesses during the last few years of his life. Christopher Columbus’s remains were initially buried at the Chapel of Wonders at the Convent of St. Francis, Valladolid, but they were then moved to the monastery of La Cartuja in Seville in 1513.

But that would be the beginning of the journey for Christopher Columbus’s remains. According to the explorer’s will, he requested to be buried on the island of Hispaniola, which is now the present-day Dominican Republic, where his remains rested until 1795 when they were moved to Cuba. However, after Cuba became an independent nation following the Spanish-American war, his partial remains were moved back to Seville in 1898 where they remain today.

Source: Reuters