This information may interest not only Americans, who celebrate Columbus Day on October 14.
According to Reuters, Spanish scientists announced that 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, based on DNA analysis used to solve a centuries-old mystery.
A team of researchers, headed by forensic expert Miguel Llorente, analyzed remains buried in the Seville cathedral, recognized as Columbus's burial site. They compared these samples with those of known relatives and descendants, and Llorente noted that “the result is almost completely reliable.”
Experts suggest that the explorer, whose journey across the Atlantic transformed global history, was probably born in Western Europe. They contend that he may have concealed his Jewish heritage or converted to Catholicism to escape religious persecution.
Columbus's true heritage uncovered: Jewish roots confirmed
The DNA study challenges the widely contested theory that Columbus hailed from Genoa, Italy, as claimed by many historians.
Numerous countries have debated his origins and burial location, with some historians suggesting alternative theories that he could have been of Spanish Jewish, Greek, Basque, Portuguese, British, or even Polish descent.
Christopher Columbus embarked on a journey to find a new passage to Asia, but ultimately ended up in the Caribbean instead. His expedition received backing from Spain's Catholic monarchs.
During the 15th century, around 300,000 practicing Jews resided in Spain. In 1492, the same year Columbus arrived in the Americas, they, along with Muslims, were mandated to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country.
Genetic research from the University of Leeds in 2008 indicates that 20 percent of today's Spanish population has paternal lineage tracing back to Sephardic Jews.
Portrait of Christopher Columbus (1447-1506) at the age of 59, depicted in a line-engraved bookplate. Recent DNA studies by Spanish scientists have revealed that Columbus had Jewish ancestry (George Bernard/PAP/Photoshop)
Source: IAR/BBC/The Guardian
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