The definitive answer to the question of where the famous discoverer came from could be known in as little as five months. An international science team on Wednesday began an effort to read DNA from Columbus’ remains. The results are to be published on October 12, the 529th anniversary of the “discovery” of America by Columbus.
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“Although historians prefer the theory of the origin of Genoa, other variants cannot be ruled out. It is clear that there are other theories, some of which are very consistent and have very good logical arguments. We are trying to offer scientific data that historians will be able to work with, “he said for Euronews author of research and professor of forensic medicine at the University of Granada José Antonio Lorente.
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Knowledge about the beginnings of the life of this sailor from the 15th century is fragmentary. Various historical documents (such as the will of his son Fernando Columbus) confirm that Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, northern Italy, into the family of the weaver Giovanni Columbus and Giovanna Fontanarrosa.
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Doubts remain, however, because Columbus himself, according to the Web The country he never wrote a word in Italian, instead using Valencian, Malloric, Galician and Portuguese. According to a number of theories, the discoverer concealed or falsified his origin either because he was a converted Jew or because of legal complications regarding inheritance. Renowned historians state that it may have been of Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian or even Polish origin.
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A major breakthrough in determining the more complete profile of a man who died 515 years ago was the discovery that the bones in the tomb in Seville Cathedral really belong to Columbus. However, after this discovery, the research team decided to stop the search. The reason was that DNA research technology at the time was neither accurate nor reliable and required a considerable amount of rare genetic material.
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After a significant improvement in DNA testing, the scientists decided after 16 years to resume research, with the current technology being able to determine the approximate area of origin of this important European without damaging his remains. “Our team has decided to approach the matter ethically. We have been waiting for the technological development that has now taken place. We now have next-generation sequencing, which is a much more robust and sensitive technology. In addition, we have much more forensic knowledge to compare, ”said Lorente.
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Bone fragments and son’s tooth
Lorente said that thanks to a “radical” improvement in DNA analysis, it is now possible to test very small fragments of Columbus’ remains. According to him, the scientists are working with four small bone fragments of Columbus, seven bone fragments and the tooth of his son Fernando and a dozen bone fragments of his brother Diego, but they are in bad condition. “The fragments travel to genetic identification laboratories in Rome, Italy, Florence, Mexico and the United States,” Lorente told a news conference.
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Columbus set out on his most famous expedition in the service of the Spanish monarchy on August 3, 1492, his goal was to find a new way to Asia. He died in 1506, convinced that he had discovered such a path. Even before his death, the Writings on New Countries and a New World by Amerigo Vespucci was circulating in Europe. Columbus brought wealth and power to Spain, destruction to the indigenous people. Although accurate statistics do not exist, it is said that more than half of the indigenous population died out in the 16th century. The Indians, as Columbus called them, believing that he was in India, succumbed mainly to European diseases, but he also did a new way of life.
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Columbus is often called the discoverer of America. But long before he arrived in North America, the Vikings, who briefly settled in Newfoundland around the year 1,000. However, it was not until 1492 that it was considered the “year of the discovery of America”, followed by the European colonization of the new continent.
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For many years, a dispute arose over the authenticity of Columbus’ remains. Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain, on May 20, 1506. In 1523, his remains were moved to the island of Hispaniola, where the Dominican Republic and Haiti are today, and where Columbus wished to be buried. However, they were transported from the local cathedral in Santo Domingo in 1793, when the island was acquired by France, and reached Havana. When Spain lost Cuba in the war with the United States in 1898, Columbus’ remains were transported to Seville, Spain.
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