Christopher Columbus was secretly Jewish

DNA tests suggest explorer hid true identity due to rampant anti-Semitism across Europe

Christopher Columbus was Jewish, DNA experts concluded in a long-awaited investigation into the true origins of one of history’s most famous explorers.
Researcher conducted over 22 years suggests that Columbus was not a sailor from Genoa, as previously believed, but in fact from a family of Jewish silk spinners from Valencia.
Examinations of the bones of Columbus and of his son, Hernando, showed a Jewish origin, something the explorer concealed during a time in which Jews were being persecuted in Spain and other parts of Europe.
The apparent discovery has sparked a row in Genoa, Italy, northwest Italy, where the local mayor firmly rejected the notion that Columbus was not one of their own.
The discovery was the culmination of two decades of investigation led by Antonio Lorente, professor of legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada.
It was presented in a prime-time Spanish television documentary on Saturday night to coincide with Spain’s national day.
“Both in the ‘Y’ chromosome and in the mitochondrial chromosome of Hernando, there are traits compatible with Jewish origins,” Prof Lorente declared.
He said the DNA showed a “western Mediterranean” origin, but he could not state categorically which country or region.
Francesc Albardaner, a historian who has written extensively about Columbus having origins in Catalan-speaking eastern Spain, explained that being Jewish and from Genoa was effectively impossible in the 15th century.
“Jews could only spend three days at a time in Genoa by law at that time,” said Mr Albardaner.
Mr Albardaner said his research has shown that Columbus was from a family of Jewish silk spinners from the Valencia region.
In the same year of 1492 that Columbus landed on Guanahani in the Bahamas, Spain’s Catholic monarchs Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon ordered the expulsion of all Jews who did not agree to convert to Christianity.
“Christopher Columbus had to pretend all his life that he was a Roman Catholic Christian. If he had made one mistake, this man would have ended up on the pyre,” said Mr Albardaner.
The DNA research shows that Columbus lied about his family; Diego Columbus was the explorer’s second cousin and not his brother, as he told the Spanish court.
A key part of the puzzle was to establish that the remains said to be those of Columbus kept in a tomb in Seville cathedral were really those of the explorer, in the face of a longstanding claim by the Dominican Republic to be the resting place of Columbus.
Prof Lorente’s team established without doubt that the Seville bones were those of Columbus thanks to a close match with the DNA found in the remains of his son, Hernando, kept in the same cathedral.
Speaking on the documentary ‘DNA Columbus – his true origin’, Prof Lorente agreed that Columbus was almost certainly not from mainland Italy and said that there was no solid evidence that he had come from France.
“What do we have left? The Spanish Mediterranean arc, the Balearic Islands and Sicily. But Sicily would also be strange, because if so, Christopher Columbus would have written with some Italian or Sicilian features. So it is most likely that his origin is in the Spanish Mediterranean arc or in the Balearic Islands”, the scientist said.
Analysis of the around 40 letters signed by Columbus that have been preserved show that his writing in Castilian Spanish was free of any Italian influences, with researchers pointing out that he even wrote letters to a bank in Genoa in Spanish.
Mr Albardaner said: “There were around 200,000 Jews living in Spain in Columbus’ time. In the Italian peninsula, it is estimated that there were only between 10,000 and 15,000. There was a much larger Jewish population in Sicily of around 40,000, but we should remember that Sicily, in Columbus’ time, belonged to the Crown of Aragon.”
Italians, including the mayor of Genoa and several historians, on Sunday angrily rejected the suggestion that Columbus was not one of their own.
Marco Bucci, who celebrated Columbus Day with an event and award presentation honouring the explorer in the port city considered his birthplace, roundly criticised the research.
“The state archive of Genoa has dozens of documents, mostly letters and deeds, which enable us to confirm Columbus’ Genoese origin and reconstruct his history, origins and movements,” the mayor said in the statement.
“No DNA test will ever surpass historical documentation.”
Antonio Musarra, a professor of mediaeval history at La Sapienza in Rome, told The Telegraph there was “no concrete evidence” to suggest that Columbus was born in Spain or had Jewish blood.
He also questioned the purity of the DNA sample so long after the explorer’s death.
Professor Musarra said Columbus was a prolific letter writer and often wrote about his links to Christianity and love of Genoa. In one letter to a Genoese bank in 1502, the explorer said “My heart is always with you”.
“During his life he always remembered Genoa as his homeland,” said the professor who is currently writing a book about Columbus.
Giacomo Montanari, from the University of Genoa, also questioned the validity of research which had not been published in a respected scientific journal. “The research has to be recognised,” he said.  “We will evaluate it when we see it, not from a TV documentary.”