The televised investigation to discover the true origin of Christopher Columbusthe results of which were finally revealed in a “documentary thriller” which sometimes borders on the genre of reality showhas many conclusions. According to DNA data, the discoverer of the New World was neither Castilian, Portuguese, Galician, Basque-Navarrean, nor a noble Majorcan nephew of the Catholic Monarchs. The genetic study led by José Antonio Lorente, professor of legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada, has rejected all these Iberian theoriesbut he also does not seem to have obtained categorical evidence demonstrating that the admiral was not Genoese, as all the main Colombian historians maintain – none of them wanted to participate in the project.
Among the eight finalist hypotheses which were considered – up to 25 different nationalities were attributed to the sailor – the one which is “closest” according to the scientists is the one which defends that Christopher Columbus was of Jewish origin, and that for this reason he projected on life a series of shadows on its true roots and origins. Lorente, who began research at the beginning of the century with the help of Professor Marcial Castro, assures in the film that both in the Y chromosome and in the mitochondrial DNA of Hernando Colón, the admiral’s son, buried in Seville Cathedral, “there are traits compatible with a Jewish origin”.
“Columbus was a Jew by culture, religion, nation and heart: his writings breathe Judaism,” says architect Francesc Albardaner, defender of this theory and former president of the Center for Colombian Studies in Barcelona. “All his life he had to pretend that he was an Apostolic and Roman Christian, because if he had made a mistake he would have ended up at the stake.” [de la Inquisición]but it was protected by the Catholic Monarchs.” According to his point of view, the discoverer of America would have been a converted Sephardic Jew surely born into “a family of weavers from Valencia”.
Coroner José Antonio Lorente with the remains of the Colóns.
RTVE
In fact, the only thing that genetic research has confirmed – although it is true that no scientific data has been demonstrated – is that the origin of Columbus should be located in the western Mediterranean. Lorente’s team, at the end of Columbus’ DNA. Its true origincarries out a series of completely refutable deviations to delimit this vast area and locate the origin of the browser in “the Spanish Mediterranean arc or the Balearic Islands”the former territories of the Crown of Aragon.
Genoa, the traditional theory defended by the most reliable historians – documents signed by Columbus himself indicate this -, which is also one of the possible regions in this range, is intended to be ruled out because the Jews had already been expelled there in the 12th century. But the sailor could very well have been a 15th century Genoese of Jewish origin without meaning to say that he was Jewish. Albardaner insists that “the theory of Cristóforo Colombo born in Genoa, raised in Genoa, educated in Genoa, is false” because all historians who support this position have asserted “that it is impossible for our Colombo to be Jewish” .
“Christopher Columbus at the court of the Catholic Monarchs”. A painting by Juan Cordero painted in 1850.
National Museum of Art of Mexico
Regis Francisco López, the director of the documentary, assures that with this theory “All the pieces of the puzzle fit together”. He refers, for example, to the fact that the admiral wrote in perfect Spanish – the Sephardic Jews spoke the peninsular languages - or to the question of how he had access to the Catholic Monarchs, to whom he proposed his trip to the Indies. following a route to the west – the monarchs had a few converts in their entourage, such as the notary and lender Luis de Santángel or the Duke of Medinaceli, who could have carried out the arrangements. Again, this is just speculation. José Antonio Lorente assured that the scientific data will be published next November in a specialized journal.
The Story Producciones documentary, broadcast this Saturday on La1 on the occasion of Columbus Day, recounts in a police manner the investigation carried out by the coroner, trained at the FBI. One of the first steps was to take genetic samples from more than a hundred current men nicknamed Colombo who lived in the area of Milan and Genoa. The results showed that there was no connection between them: the Y chromosomes were completely different. “At that time, boys and girls abandoned by their families and left at the doors of churches and convents were very frequently given the surname Colombo,” explains the professor. A nickname like the Spanish Exposito which would be ideal for hiding.
Material recovered from the tomb of Christopher Columbus.
RTVE
Genetic research was able to certify that the very degraded bones – of which very partial DNA was recovered – buried in a chest in Seville Cathedral attributed to the conqueror are his “with absolute certainty”. In addition, the bones that remain in the tomb of Hernando Colón in the same Sevillian temple belong to the son of the discoverer, because between the two samples there are a first degree relationship.
The big surprise ultimately was not that Christopher Columbus was not the son of the Prince of Viana, nor of the Portuguese corsair Pedro Ataíde, nor a bastard son of the Portuguese royal house, nor a Galician from Poio. One of the study’s most unique discoveries involves his brother’s remains Diego Colonbecame governor of Hispaniola. The bones buried in a metal box filled with water on the grounds of La Cartuja-Pickman and attributed to this person turned out to be those of a fifth-degree relative, a possible first cousin who may have been posing as him . A new mystery in a case which, despite the commercialization, is by no means closed.
