Everyone is fighting for it. In total, 25 countries claim the origin of the most famous explorer, Christopher Columbus. If until now, Italy, and especially the city of Genoa, has been loved by the scientific community, the broadcast of a documentary that presents the results of a new study is causing confusion. Based on DNA analysis, it suggests that Christopher Columbus was born into a Jewish family in Spain.
It is possible that during his lifetime, and even during the centuries after his death, no one doubted the authenticity of Christopher Columbus. He was actually born in 1451 in Genoa. His father, Domenico Colombo, originally from Lombardy, would have been a weaver in the northwestern Italian city on the Ligurian coast. Hence the Italian origin of the most famous explorers seemed clearly established. A historical hypothesis was bolstered by the publication in 1931 of documents written by Christopher Columbus himself. In one of these, dated February 22, 1498, he ordered that his Genoese estate remain in the hands of his family on the pretext that he had been born there. With this evidence written in black and white, the question of Christopher Columbus’ provenance seemed definitively closed. However, in recent years, the debate has resurfaced. For some researchers, the Explorer isn’t really what we think it is. What if he fooled us?
An uncertain origin, claimed by many countries!
Several clues cast doubt on the origin of this genus and From a strong Catholicism an ambivalence that led toappearanceappearance Many assumptions. It has thus been suggested that Christopher Columbus was actually born in Portugal, Spain, Majorca, even Corsica, Sweden, Greece or Scotland! However, none of these alternative hypotheses was supported by incontrovertible evidence. But the airing of a documentary on October 12 caused trouble. It shows the results of a scientific study conducted over twenty years by researchers at the University of hand grenadehand grenadewho claim that the discoverer of America would not be of Italian origin at all, but a Spanish Jew.
A DNA analysis will reveal Sephardic origin.
The theory is not new. So far, it has been based on the interpretation of certain characters and terms in his letters, suggesting that he hid his Jewish origins. In Spain, the surname Colon is frequently worn by Jews. But the documentary brings new elements. The study is based on fact analysisADNADN Found on the (incomplete) skeleton of the explorer buried in the Cathedral of Seville. These data were compared with analyzes of remains obtained from one of Christopher Columbus’ brothers, Giacomo, and his other son, Fernand. Thus the results would point to a Sephardic Jewish ancestry. But, for that matter, why would Christopher Columbus himself suggest that he was a genius and of Catholic origin?
Christopher Columbus is said to have hid his identity to avoid persecution.
It will be explained in historical context. At the end of the 15th centurye century, Spain actually underwent religious unification under the shadow of Catholicism. Jewish and Muslim communities were persecuted, forced to convert or leave the country, facing the Inquisition as punishment. “False converts” are hunted down and then we witness the mass exodus of the Jewish community. However, in 1492, Christopher Columbus began a series of voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, on behalf of the Spanish Empire. To avoid exile and the Inquisition, did the explorer convert, hiding his true origins? This documentary presents
Results contested by the scientific community
However, a revelation that leaves a large section of the scientific community skeptical. Firstly, because the results presented have not yet been the subject of a scientific publication and therefore have not been peer-reviewed. In everyday life The countryI’m a professor geneticgenetic Antonio Salas also criticized the scientific approach, saying ” That there is not ChromosomeChromosome Y which can accurately and exclusively describe a Sephardic Jewish origin. ».
For now, it seems that Christopher Columbus’s origins remain a mystery!
