MADRID, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, Spanish scientists said on Saturday, after using DNA analysis to tackle a centuries-old mystery.

Several countries have argued over the origins and the final burial place of the divisive figure who led Spanish-funded expeditions from the 1490s onward, opening the way for the European conquest of the Americas.

Many historians have questioned the traditional theory that Columbus came from Genoa, Italy. Other theories range from him being a Spanish Jew or a Greek, to Basque, Portuguese or British.

To solve the mystery researchers conducted a 22-year investigation, led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente, by testing tiny samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, long marked by authorities there as the last resting place of Columbus, though there had been rival claims.

They compared them with those of known relatives and descendants and their findings were announced in a documentary titled “Columbus DNA: The true origin” on Spain’s national broadcaster TVE on Saturday. “We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son,” Lorente said in the programme.

  • @[email protected]
    12•1 month ago

    This is pseudo-science. Judaism is a religion, not a gene. And to the extent that ancestry can be inferred from genetics, around 20% of the iberian population has iberian jews as ancestors. So is spain considered 20% jewish? Of course not, because ancestry is an ancient mixed bag and judaism is a religion. Is there any evidence that Columbus practiced judaism? I haven’t heard any.

    The headline is total clickbait compared to the more accurate description in the article:

    And both in the Y chromosome (male) and in the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted by the mother) of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin.

    • davel [he/him]English
      18•1 month ago

      The fact that Judaism is a religion doesn’t make the Shepardic or Ashkenazi or indigenous Palestinian Jewish people pseudoscience. These are people with distinct cultures and histories and familial lineages. Most Jews aren’t even religious[1][2].

    • Guy DudemanEnglish
      -1•1 month ago

      Oh good. I thought we were all going to start being accused of antisemitism if we didn’t celebrate Columbus Day.