DNA samples show: Columbus was not Italian at all

This is evident from a documentary that the Spanish state broadcaster RTVE broadcast on Saturday and in which research leader José Antonio Lorente presented his results. “We have a very incomplete but sufficient DNA of Christopher Columbus,” Lorente said in the documentary “Colón DNA, su verdadero origen” (roughly: Columbus DNA, his true origins), according to a report by the Europa Press news agency.

Bone remains of Columbus in Seville Cathedral
“We have DNA from his son Hernando Columbus, which confirms he is his son.” His genetic makeup contains characteristics compatible with Jewish ancestry. Bone remains of the explorer can be found in the Cathedral of Seville in southern Spain.

Portugal also claims Columbus as its own
Columbus (circa 1451 to 1506) set sail on behalf of the Spanish crown and landed in America in October 1492 in search of a sea route to India. For a long time it was believed and taught in schools that the sailor came from Genoa, but this is controversial. Critics point out, among other things, that he wrote not in Italian but in Spanish. Portugal also claims the sailor as its own – partly because he married there.

Lorente’s team has been investigating the many theories about Columbus’s origins for years and has now come to the conclusion that a Spanish origin is the most likely. The group took DNA samples from men in northern Italy who lived between Genoa and Milan and had the surname Colombo. Their assumption: If Columbus came from this region, there should be a genetic similarity. But no genetic similarities have been found, they say.