New research rules out the Genoese origin of Columbus and leans towards the Majorcan

Madrid .- Christopher Columbus was not Genoese, he had noble ancestry and his origin is located in some enclave of the dominant non-Castilian or Italian language of the Crown of Aragon in 1492, that is, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia or the Kingdom of Mallorca, according to an investigation that has been made public this Wednesday.

The book ‘The origin of Columbus beyond DNA. Critical analysis of the Genoese thesis in the light of fifteen historical facts’, written by Carlos García-Delgado with the support of the Madina Mayurqa Foundation and the Cristóbal Columbus Cultural Association, leans towards the Majorcan thesis.

"The most likely and the one with the most evidence""

«It is the most probable and the one with the most evidence in its favor», according to the author, who presented his work this afternoon in Madrid accompanied by Pablo Carrington, vice president of that foundation dedicated to protecting Mallorcan heritage and with Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal, Duke of Veragua and direct descendant of the discoverer.

As a result of the investigated data, García-Delgado, doctor in Industrial Engineering and expert in architecture and urban planning, invites the reader to review fifteen «proven facts» that are shown to be incompatible with the most accepted thesis about the origin of Christopher Columbus, who was Genoese.

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This refers to the treatment of "don" that the Catholic Monarchs gave to Columbus, something "strictly reserved for the nobility" or to the 'Capitulations of Santa Fe', the contract that the Catholic Monarchs signed with Columbus for the expedition of the discovery, where they appointed him admiral, governor general and viceroy, positions reserved for the high nobility.

"It seems unlikely to think that they could be granted to the son of a Genoese wool merchant or tavern keeper who had not yet discovered anything, as the 'Genoese theory' suggests," the author has said.

He has also underlined that "there are no scientific arguments" to support the hypothesis of Columbus' Genoese origin. "There are, however, proofs that Columbus could not be the son of a Genoese wool merchant".

In October 2024, another investigation by the forensic scientist and professor of Legal Medicine at the University of Granada, José Antonio Lorente, based on genetic tests carried out with the bones of the discoverer of Abinader grants the Heraldic Order of Christopher Columbus to Rosa Margarita Bonetti, better known as Pirigua, according to which Columbus was a Spanish Sephardic Jew, and not Genoese or Italian.

That investigation also placed his birth in the territory of the Mediterranean arc or the Balearic Islands that belonged to the Spanish crown of Aragon.