The documentary ‘Colón ADN’. The real origin of this is that the explorer who discovered America continued to inspire enormous, important and, above all, passionate admiration among Europeans even five centuries after his death. As long as the article published on RTVE on Saturday is making headlines both in Spain and outside Spain. Much less clear is the true purpose of the documentary, starring coroner and professor José Antonio Lorente from the University of Granada (UGR), which aims to show indisputably what the real birthplace of Christopher Columbus was.

And it is not surprising that this is so.

Doubts about the admiral’s origins are not just fertile ground for science. For a long time, they also stood for identity, pride, and money. “Where was Columbus from?” The answer to the question comes from here. It is the same today as it was three days ago, five years ago, and will probably be the same in the future: it depends. This depends largely on where the person you ask lives.

‘Columbus DNA. its true origin. This is the thought-provoking title of the documentary, announced with great fanfare by RTVE and airing this Saturday, coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Day. It worked as a hook. This is indisputable. For weeks, media on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have been whetting the appetite of history buffs with the great promise of RTVE’s work: revealing the conclusions of forensic scientist and UGR professor José Antonio Lorente, who has been researching for decades the origins of the famous sailor.

It is understandable that the work arouses so much interest. First, because Christopher Columbus continues to command obvious fascination. His origins have long been a subject of debate, although the latter is a common version accepted even by the Royal Academy of History of Spain (RAH), which states that he was a native of Genoa. As if all this wasn’t enough, Lorente is no ordinary coroner. His research builds on a 2003 project that excavated Columbus’s tomb in Seville Cathedral, as well as the grave of his son Hernando. Anything that will clarify its origin using DNA.

“harmonious” of Sephardic origin. Here’s a spoiler: the documentary didn’t settle the debate. Not much less. However, this does not mean that throughout the work Lorente describes his research by following the following narrative: true crimesome interesting phrases intervene. For example, that the (very few) remains buried in Seville were indeed those of the admiral, something that was categorically announced 18 years ago; or that Diego Columbus, whose bones were also analyzed, may not have been the sailor’s brother, but rather his cousin, fifth or sixth degree relative. If there is a powerful idea in the work, it is another idea: that of connecting Columbus’s origins with the Sephardim of the western Mediterranean.

In the documentary prepared by RTVE and Story Producciones, it is revealed that “his son Hernando Colón’s mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome contain features consistent with his Jewish origin.” To be more precise, the study points to the Iberian Peninsula Sephardic, where, according to the authors’ own data, there is a much larger Jewish community than in other parts of Europe, such as Sicily, numbering around 40,000 people; or Genoa, where there will be no more than 15,000 people. This last statement is relevant because it is the Republic of Genoa that most historians point to when asked to locate the admiral’s birthplace. Based on this and other arguments, Lorente’s work points to the Levant peninsula.

Is the problem solved? Definitely. And for several reasons. First, although the documentary may have sparked public interest, it may have left experts cold. Since Saturday, there have been many people questioning the form and claiming that they see no reason yet to rule on the merits. As a result, Lorente’s work, which took years and was supported by studies that were not in the spotlight, was announced with a documentary. television programnot paper after undergoing a rigorous and independent review. We’ll have to wait for that broadcast.

A press conference will be held at the end of November, where the scientific results barely shown in the documentary will be presented.

“There is no information.” “No minimal information is provided about what was analyzed. It never shows Columbus’ DNA, and scientists don’t know what analysis was done.” Country geneticist Antonio Alonso. He is not the only person expressing himself in this direction. Moreover, there are those who question whether the father-son relationship between Columbus and Hernando, which is key to the study, has been well established, or even warn that “determining the genealogy, halo group, or haplotype of Jewish ancestry does not lead to questioning Columbus’ place of birth.” .”In Genoa.”

The community was expelled from this republic, as the La1 documentary recalls, but historian Arturo Rodríguez reminds elDiario.es that “this only applies to the city.” “There was a Jewish community in Savona,” he recalls.

One Columbus, 25 origins. There is another reason why the study fails to resolve the debate. This is why it is unlikely to be closed unless conclusive and indisputable evidence is presented. The mix between the fascination Columbus generated and the mists obscuring his origins facilitated the development of dozens of theories about his birthplace over the decades.

They claim Columbus at several dozen different points spread across the map, in Spain and other countries. RTVE itself mentions up to 25 different places: Quirós (part of today’s Greece), Sardinia, Corsica, Portugal… In Spain there are more or less offensive theories claiming that he was born in Felanitx, Espinosa de Henares in the south . Galicia, Catalonia, even extinction.

Supported by the work of José Antonio Lorente, the documentary dismisses theories until it supports the theory of Francesc Albardaner, author of the book ‘La catalanitat de Colom’, who argues that the sailor was a Sephardic Jew born into a family of silk weavers. Valencia. He even continues this hypothesis in the article published by La1 on Saturday. The problem, which experts commenting on the documentary make clear (or refuse to do so), is that the investigation does not allow for resolution of the controversy, at least according to what is currently known.

“He supported our theory”. And a good proof of this is that although Lorente himself goes so far as to say that Albardaner’s Valencian theory is the “closest” theory to the truth, there are those who interpret the results differently to support their own theory. You can see it in the newspaper today. Voice of Galiciapublished an interview with Eduardo Esteban, president of the Colón Gallego Association; here he argued that if RTVE’s work did anything, it led to the hypothesis that Columbus was born or lived in Pontevedra.

“They list a lot of credible evidence that logically suggests that the possibility that Columbus was Galician is very broad,” Esteban says, reminding us that Galicia “was a refuge for many people expelled from other parts of Spain.” “They are ours.” “Jewish neighbourhoods, not just in Ribadavia but also in Pontevedra. We knew there was a significant Jewish community and that’s where we needed to look,” he argues. Moreover, the expert says that the documentary managed to rule out other “challenging” theories. It continues Columbus’s Galician connection, having been born, or at least resident, in the north.

“Reliably proven”. There is another reason to be skeptical about the possibility that the debate about the origin of Columbus will one day be closed and that advocates of this or that theory will consider the debate closed. According to laRAH, arguably one of the most authoritative voices on the subject, the issue is already obvious. In his biography dedicated to Columbus, he states that he is Genoese.

“The statements of the time, including those of the explorer himself, included in the founding document of the mayorazgo in favor of his son Diego, unanimously agree when it comes to the establishment of the Colombo stake in Genoa. Moreover, Genoese researchers have conclusively proven that Admiral Domenico Colombo and Susana Fontanarosso He was the son of; both belonged to Ligurian families engaged in textile manufacturing”, hendek. In case of any doubt, he is often referred to as the Genoese.

Then why the controversy? Apart from the evidence and arguments put forward by some, there is an explanation as to why so many theories have emerged about Columbus’s origin, and there are some theories that remain particularly offensive, such as the Galician theory: in a way that claims his birth. The story of the sailor who “discovered” America has become a matter of identity and pride.

Despite the controversy his figure may cause, the admiral also generates enough anticipation to become an interesting economic hook. The documentary is a clear example of this. This piece resonated in the media Guard or BBC.

Columbus House Museums. Its attractiveness in terms of tourism is also obvious. Gran Canaria promotes the Casa de Colón in the Vegueta district, visited by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the Americas; In the province of Pontevedra there is the Columbus House Museum, and in Valladolid it has its own Columbus House Museum to commemorate the sailor’s connection with the municipality. Outside of Spain, one of Genoa’s main attractions for visitors is that it is the birthplace of one of the most famous explorers of all time.

There, near Porta Soprana, is also the Columbus House, a reconstruction of the medieval building where Columbus spent his youth. With his magnetic power more than 500 years after his death, it is better understood that the answer to the question “Where is Columbus from” is often “it depends”, it depends on the origin of the speaker.

Pictures | Juanedc (Flickr) and Wikipedia

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