Christopher Columbus 'kept secret he was Jewish' as DNA testing reveals Spanish roots, solving 500 year mystery
13 October 2024, 10:01
Christopher Columbus was Jewish new DNA testing has confirmed, with scientists finally solving the 500 year mystery linked to the legendary explorer's remains.
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A crack team of researchers have spent the past 20 years conducting a range of advance DNA testing on various remains to hone techniques that led them to confirm the long-held theory.
DNA analysis of the bones, long-believed to be Columbus', took place after access was granted to the resting place beneath Spain's Seville Cathedral.
The findings were revealed as part of a new prime-time documentary on Spanish television, revealing the remains with 'absolute certainty' were those of the explorer.
Antonio Lorente, professor of legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada, said the DNA showed a “western Mediterranean” origin.
However, scientists could not state categorically which country or region.
“Both in the ‘Y’ chromosome and in the mitochondrial chromosome of Hernando, there are traits compatible with Jewish origins,” Professor Lorente said.
The findings coincide with the explorer's national day in Spain - and days before Columbus Day, the US holiday dedicated to the explorer's discovery of the 'New World'.
The new testing allows trace amounts of residual DNA to be compared - in this case, to DNA taken from the explorer's son, Hernando, and brother Diego, who were also buried beneath Seville Cathedral.
However, Francesc Albardaner, a historian who has written extensively about Columbus' origins, added doubt to the findings, noting that being Jewish and from Genoa was 'effectively impossible' during the 15th century.
“Jews could only spend three days at a time in Genoa by law at that time,” said Mr Albardaner.
“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," he said.
”Mr Albardaner said his research has shown that Columbus was from a family of Jewish silk spinners from the Valencia region.
Taking place on the second Monday in October each year, in a bid to commemorate the explorer's discovery of the 'New World' for Spain on October 12, 1492.
Miguel Lorente, a scientist who headed up the research, said on Thursday: 'Today it has been possible to verify it with new technologies, so that the previous partial theory that the remains of Seville belong to Christopher Columbus has been definitively confirmed.'
Columbus, an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa, died aged 55 in 1506.
Passing in the northwest Spanish city of Valladolid, he wished to be buried on the island of Hispaniola that is today shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
His remains were later taken to the island in 1542, before being moved to Cuba in 1795 before travelling to Spain in 1898.
Since his death, the remains have been moved several times, with some experts claiming the explorer had previously been buried in the Dominican Republic.
Despite experts believing for years that the hidden tomb beneath the cathedral held the explorer's remains, it was not until 2003 that Lorente and historian Marcial Castro were granted permission to open it.
Despite the volume of data, Lorente stated that "the outcome is almost absolutely reliable."
Hidden inside were the unidentified bones, now confirmed as those of Columbus, ending the 500 year mystery.
It comes a day after it was revealed the partial remains of legendary British explorer 'Sandy' Irvine, who disappeared more than 100 years ago, are believed to have been discovered on Mount Everest.
Andrew Comyn “Sandy” Irvine, then aged 22, vanished on the mountain on June 8, 1924 after setting off on an expedition hoping to conquer the legendary peak.
Up until now, there had been widespread speculation surrounding the explorer's fate, with the remains of his climbing partner, renowned mountaineer George Mallory, only uncovered in 1999.
