Reuters
—

15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, Spanish scientists said Saturday, after using DNA analysis to tackle a centuries-old mystery.

Several countries have argued over the origins and eventual burial place of the divisive figure who led Spanish-funded expeditions from the 1490s, paving 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 Greek, to Basque, Portuguese or British.

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

They compared them with those of known relatives and descendants and their findings were announced Saturday in a documentary entitled “Columbus DNA: The True Origins” on Spanish national broadcaster TVE.

“We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son,” Lorente said in the program.

“And in both Hernando’s Y chromosome (male) and mitochondrial DNA (transmitted from the mother) there are traits compatible with Jewish ancestry.”

About 300,000 Jews lived in Spain before the ‘Reyes Catolicos’, the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand, ordered Jews and Muslims to convert to the Catholic faith or leave the country. Many settled all over the world. The word Sephardic comes from Sefarad, or Spain in Hebrew.

After analyzing 25 possible places, Lorente said it was only possible to say that Columbus was born in Western Europe.

On Thursday, Lorente said they had confirmed previous theories that the remains in Seville Cathedral belonged to Columbus.

Research into Columbus’s nationality has been complicated by a number of factors, including the large amount of data. But “the outcome is almost absolutely reliable,” Lorente said.

Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain, in 1506, but wanted to be buried on the island of Hispaniola, which today is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. His remains were taken there in 1542, then moved to Cuba in 1795 and then, it was long believed in Spain, to Seville in 1898.