In recent days, news has appeared in the media that a new study has demonstrated the Spanish origins and not Genoese Of Christopher Columbusthe explorer known throughout the world for the “discovery” of America in 1492. Many Italian, Spanish and other newspapers have in fact claimed, in sensationalist tones, that the navigator belonged to a Jewish family living in the Valencia area. Things, however, are different: first of all the theory is expressed within a documentary (and not of a scientific study) aired on Spanish television; furthermore, the hypothesis that Columbus was Spanish and Jewish has actually already been circulating for almost a century: in this case it was simply relaunched, adding a new element, that is, the analysis of presumed DNA of the navigator. The documentary though he brought no concrete evidence to demonstrate the thesis of Columbus’ Spanish origin, which is however contradicted by numerous documents of the time.
Hypotheses on the origins of Christopher Columbus: where was he born?
Columbus’ birthplace has been a subject of discussion long before the Spanish documentary aired. Let’s look at the main hypotheses.
Genoa
The hypothesis that Columbus was a Genoese is the most widespread and is corroborated by numerous sources. First of all, Columbus himselfin some documents preserved to this day (considered authentic by most scholars), states that he was born in Genoa. Furthermore, all sources of the time maintain that the navigator was born in Genoa or Liguria. Already one letter of 1493 defined him as “Christophorus quidam Colonus vir Ligur”, that is, “a certain Cristoforo Colono, a Ligurian man”. Other documents of the time qualify him more precisely as Genoese: a book by Doge of Genoa Battista Fregosopublished in 1509; an annotation of the famous world map of the Turkish admiral Piri Reisbuilt in 1513; and others. Furthermore, documents attesting to the Ligurian origins of Colombo’s family are preserved in the State Archives of Genoa.
Other locations in Liguria and Italy
According to another hypothesis, Columbus was “Genoese” in the sense that he was born in the territory of Republic of Genoawhich included Liguria, Corsica, a part of Sardinia and outposts in numerous locations in the Mediterranean. On the basis of ancient documents, it has been hypothesized that he was born in Savona or other Ligurian locations.
Hypotheses have also been put forward, based on very labile elements, according to which he was born in other Italian territorieslike Monferrato and Piacentino.
Spain
The thesis that Columbus was Spanish and, more precisely, that he was born in the Catalan-Valencian area, has been put forward for the first time in 1927 by the Peruvian scholar Luis Ulloa and relaunched several times. The hypothesis starts from the assumption that the name of the explorerCristóbal Colón, with whom he himself identified, was Spanish and not Italian. Supporters of this hypothesis have also pointed out that, although the navigator wrote in the Castilian (i.e. Spanish) language, he made errors that revealed that he usually spoke Catalan.
Since the 1940s it has also been hypothesized that, in addition to being Spanish, Columbus had Jewish originsas some elements of his writing and signature would demonstrate.
Corsica, Portugal and Poland
Among other theories, it has been claimed that Columbus was born in Calvi, Corsica(at the time part of the Republic of Genoa), in a street that today is called Rue Christophe Colomb; that he was Portuguese, more precisely a agent of the king of Portugal charged with keeping the Spanish away from the sea routes around Africa; that it was even a Polish princeSegismundo Henriques, son of King Ladislaus III. However, these hypotheses are based only on assumptions.
What the Spanish documentary says Colon ADN
The documentary Colon ADN. On verdadero origen (“Columbus DNA. His true origin”), broadcast on Spanish television RTVE on 12 October, relaunches the hypothesis that Columbus was born in territory of the Catalan-Valencian speaking Iberian Peninsula and that he had Jewish origins.
The result is based on a new element, the study of the fragments of Columbus’ bones, preserved in the cathedral of Seville. A professor of forensic medicine from the University of Granada, José Antonio Llorentewho examined the navigator’s remains in 2003, discusses it with the Catalan scholar in the documentary Francesc Albadanerstating that Columbus’ DNA shows that he had Jewish ancestry and was born in the western Mediterranean. Since there were no Jews in Genoa in the 15th century, the documentary states, the navigator could not have been Genoese. Proceeding by exclusion, it is argued that Columbus was born in Iberian territory, but hid his origins to avoid falling into the persecutions that the Jews suffered. But is it really like that?
The critical issues of the documentary
The documentary Colon ADN it reiterates theses already formulated in the past and rejected by most scholars. Even the analysis of Columbus’s DNA is not entirely new: Llorente had examined the remains preserved in the Cathedral of Seville in 2003, because there was an ongoing dispute regarding the navigator’s burial place. The documentary, moreover, is not developed with scientific methodology and contains no verifiable evidence by other scholarsbut makes unproven claims. Furthermore, he fails to convincingly explain why, if Columbus was truly a Catalan, contemporary documents qualify him as Genoese. For such reasons, many scholars have expressed strong doubts about reliability of the documentary.
So where was Columbus born?
Given the current state of knowledge, this is the most likely hypothesis the one of his birth in Genoa remains or, at most, in other locations in Liguria. Otherwise it would not be possible to explain why all the documents of the time state that the navigator was Genoese or Ligurian. The inconsistencies relating to name, writing and DNA can be explained in various ways, without “moving” the navigator’s place of birth.
Be careful, however, not to turn the story into a matter of national pride and interpret it as one sort of challenge between Italy and Spain. Columbus’ voyages had global effects: his arrival in America in 1492 changed the history of the entire planet. Columbus, in this sense, is “heritage” of the entire human race and all of us – Italians, Spaniards and inhabitants of other countries – are to some extent his heirs.