Christopher Columbus may have been of Jewish and Spanish ancestry

According to a new documentary, Christopher Columbus may have been a Spanish Jew.

Scientists in Spain, who conducted a 20-year genetic investigation into Columbus’s remains, buried in Seville Cathedral, believed so.

The discovery challenges the traditional belief that Columbus was from Genoa, Italy.

Forensic expert Jose Antonio Lorente’s research found that Columbus’s and his son’s DNA showed traces compatible with Jewish ancestry.

Some scientists are skeptical because the findings were revealed in a Spanish documentary (broadcast on Saturday) without peer-reviewed data, and the study’s full results have not yet been published.

The study’s findings are significant and ironic because Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella forced Jews to convert or leave Spain in 1492, the same year Columbus reached the Americas.

Columbus’s legacy is deeply tied to the rise of Spain’s empire in the Americas, while Spain simultaneously persecuted its Jewish population.