Christopher Columbus
posthumous portrait of Christopher Columbus c. 1519, by Sebastiano del Piombo, oil on canvas, 00.18.2, Metropolitan Museum of Art, online collection (The Met object ID 437645)
Birth Name: Cristoforo Colombo
Date of Birth: bet. 25 August-31 October, 1451
Place of Birth: Genoa, Republic of Genoa (now Italy)
Date of Death: 20 May, 1506
Place of Death: Valladolid, Crown of Castile (now Spain)
Ethnicity: Italian
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer. While attempting to reach India from Europe via the Atlantic Ocean, under the auspices of the Spanish monarchs, he discovered America (although he was not the first European to reach the continent). This led to the colonization of the Americas by western European countries. He was Governor of the Indies, from 1492 to 1499.
Christopher was the son of Susanna (Fontanarossa) and Domenico Colombo. His father was born in Genoa, Italy. His mother was born in Bisagno, Italy. He was married to Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, until her death. He had a son, navigator and explorer Diego Columbus, with Filipa; and a son, bibliographer and cosmographer Ferdinand Columbus, with his partner Beatriz Enríquez de Arana. Diego was Admiral of the Indies, from 1506 to 1526, Governor of the Indies, from 1509 to 1518, Duke of Veragua, 1st Marquess of Jamaica, from 1509 to 1526; and Viceroy of the Indies, from 1511 to 1526.
Cristopher’s paternal grandfather was named Giovanni Colombo (the son of Lucas Colombo). Giovanni was born in Chiavari, Italy. Lucas was the son of Antonio Colombo.
Christopher’s paternal grandmother was born in Quinto, Italy.
Christopher’s maternal grandfather was named Giacomo Fontanarrosa. Giacomo was born in Bisagno, Italy.
Christopher’s religion was Roman Catholic.
He is sometimes speculated to have been of Jewish origin. It is not clear if this is accurate. His ancestry has also sometimes been speculated to have been Greek, Portuguese, Polish, and/or Catalan, among others.
Source: Genealogy of Christopher Columbus – http://www.geni.com
For anyone who doesn’t know, a DNA study on Columbus has been going on as of the few past months and results are supposed to come out today, or at least this month, so keep an eye, lots of chances he might’ve been Galician
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/ciencia/nuevos-analisis-adn-colon-para-indagar-sobre-su-origen_16975
This is as interesting as Paul McCartney’s death, but Colombo was Genoese with any doubt, according to many notarial acts, documents and contemporary writers and ambassadors.
he might’ve been Genoese politically but DNA is a different story, I honestly couldn’t care less, to me Columbus is much more of a Spanish historical figure than anything else, regardless of his nationality
“Spanish” historical figure?? What heresy is this.
Him being Italian literally bears no weight on what he did, he worked for Spain, discovered America for the Spanish, gave all the territories he discovered Spanish names and helped the Spanish empire prosper, had not being for the Spanish crown which funded him, he wouldn’t even be known today, so yes, he’s a Spanish historical figure, deal with it
Yes, he basically was a mercenary for Spain Monarchy, though he was Genoese (Italy was not a country at time).
well nevermind, apparently COVID has delayed the study due to the remains not getting to the places of study within schedule and now they’re saying results will be out before Christmas.
https://www.rtve.es/rtve/20211012/avanza-estudio-cientifico-sobre-origenes-cristobal-colon/2188041.shtml
Sorry for the Spanish articles but these are the only news regarding the study I’m aware of