The findings, revealed in a new documentary which aired this weekend on Spanish television, claim that the explorer hid his true identity to avoid religious persecution in Europe.
Following the new scientific study by the University of Granada revealing the final resting place of Christopher Columbus, it has been concluded that Christopher Columbus was Spanish and Jewish.
The findings on one of history’s most famous explorers were detailed in the documentary Columbus DNA: His True Origin, which aired this weekend on Spanish public broadcaster TVE.
DNA experts conducted that Columbus was not a sailor from Genoa, as previously believed, but in fact from a family of Jewish silk spinners from Valencia, Spain.
According to the research, his Jewish origin was something the explorer concealed, pretending to be a Roman Catholic Christian to avoid rampant antisemitism and the persecution of Jews in Spain and other parts of Europe.
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.
Announcing the study’s results in the documentary, Professor Lorente said they were “almost absolutely reliable”.
“We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son,” Lorente said in the program. “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.”
Countries have argued for years over the explorer’s origin, with many claiming him as one of their own. There have been an estimated 25 conflicting theories of his birthplace, including Poland, Greece, Portugal, France and Hungary.
However, these history-changing conclusions have been greeted with caution.
“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,” Antonio Alonso, former director of Spain’s National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, told El País.
“My conclusion is that the documentary never shows Columbus’s DNA and, as scientists, we don’t know what analysis was undertaken.”
Columbus DNA: His True Originaired on Saturday onSpanish public broadcaster TVE.
Additional sources • TVE, El Pais
Source: Euro News
