Researchers at the University of Granada have conducted a study that suggests Christopher Columbus may have come from a Jewish family in Spain. The investigation, which spans over two decades and is led by Professor Miguel Lorente Acosta, contradicts the traditional belief that Columbus was an Italian born in Genoa who sailed under a Spanish flag.
The researchers analyzed DNA samples taken from the remains of Columbus and his son, Hernando, buried in Seville Cathedral. The results indicated that both individuals exhibited “traits compatible with Jewish origins,” according to The Telegraph. Additionally, the genetic material showed a “western Mediterranean” origin but could not definitively identify the exact Mediterranean country where the Columbus family hailed from.
The team also examined around 40 letters signed by Columbus that they claimed showed no influence of the Italian language. Letters written to a bank in Genoa by Columbus were still in Castilian Spanish rather than Italian, indicating a possible connection to the Spanish Mediterranean or the Balearic Islands off the East Coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
Spanish historian Francesc Albardaner has long argued that Columbus came from the Catalan region of eastern Spain and may have originated from a family of Jewish silk spinners in the Valencia region. Columbus may have hidden his heritage and faith to avoid religious persecution against Jews, which was prevalent in Europe at the time, including during the Spanish Inquisition.
Historians and researchers have long speculated that Columbus had Jewish ancestry, with evidence pointing towards the common use of traditionally Jewish given names among members of his maternal line and the familial profession as weavers associated with Jews in Spain at the time. Some even suggest that Columbus selected many Jews and “conversos” (Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity) for his crew, possibly driven by a desire to find a new land where Jewish people could settle free from persecution.