Christopher Columbus’s DNA to shed light on his origins

More than five hundred years after he changed history by opening the New World to European exploration, scientists say they are ready to reveal the truth about Christopher Columbus’ origins.

The explorer arrived in the Americas in 1492 with the support of the Spanish Crown.

But although mainstream history books describe him as a native of Genoa, uncertainty surrounds his origins and many countries and regions claim him as their own.

Now, after more than two decades of research, scientists say they have enough evidence to settle the debate over the birthplace of Columbus.

In 2003, José Antonio Lorente, professor of forensics at the University of Granada, and historian Marcial Castro, removed what are believed to be the remains of Columbus from the cathedral of Seville to take DNA samples. They also took DNA from the bones of his son, Hernando, and his brother, Diego.

Since then they have compared DNA with that of historical figures from different countries and regions to solve the mystery, using technological advances to confirm the authenticity of the results.

The answer is expected to be revealed in a documentary film that will be shown by the Spanish national broadcaster RTVE on Saturday, which is a national holiday to mark the arrival of Columbus in the Americas.

Before the broadcast of the film, which is called an “exciting film”, the investigative team has revealed one result of its research: that the fossils excavated in Seville did not belong to the explorer.

The Dominican Republic has long held his body and a mausoleum has been dedicated to him in the city of Santo Domingo.

Presenting this discovery, Prof. Lorente said “we were able to prove without doubt, with new technology, the previously unconfirmed hypothesis that the remains of Seville belong to Christopher Columbus”.

However, the team said it is possible that some remains of the explorer are in the Dominican Republic, which did not cooperate with the project.

But the birthplace of Columbus is a great mystery.

The widely accepted theory is that he was born in Genoa, in 1451, to a family of wool weavers.

In 1492, he led an expedition supported by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain to establish a new route to the Far East.

Instead, he reached the Caribbean, marking the beginning of an era of European contact with the Americas that would lead to conquest and colonization – and the death of many millions of indigenous people from disease and war.

It is widely accepted that Columbus died in 1506 in the northern Spanish town of Valladolid.

There have been an estimated 25 or more different claims about his place of birth, including from Poland, Scotland, Hungary and Scandinavia.

However, Professor Lorente’s team narrowed it down to eight possible places of birth, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The process involved comparing Columbus’s DNA with that of people believed to be his relatives in these areas.

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia is on the short list. So did the Balearic island of Mallorca, with the idea that Columbus was the illegitimate son of the prince of Viana, brother of King Ferdinand, who authorized his epic voyage.

Another theory suggests that Columbus was a Jew from the Mediterranean port city of Valencia. His mysterious early life, according to this theory, can be explained by the fact that he tried to hide his Jewish background to avoid persecution by the fanatical Catholic Spanish kings.

Elsewhere in Spain, there are also claims by the regions of Navarre and Castilla La Mancha to have originated with Columbus. In Portugal, another theory says that the explorer was a crime boss whose real name was Pedro de Ataíde.

RTVE offered some interesting clues ahead of the broadcast, including that the results will “change everything we’ve learned” about Columbus. However, Marcial Castro, who participated in the project, said in the comic film that he saw “the traditional Genovese theory” as the most obvious one to return as a historian.

In a statement, Prof. Lorente said that his team is “still analyzing the latest and most important information” that will not affect the content of the documentary but will have scientific significance and will be presented in November along with the full results of his team’s research.

Program Colón ADN. Su verdadero origen (Columbus’s DNA: His true origin) airs on Spain’s TVE 1 on Saturdays at 22:30 (20:30GMT).