Madrid, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Spanish scientists said that on Saturday they will reveal details about the nationality of Christopher Columbus, after using DNA analysis to solve a mystery of centuries.
It has been much discussed about the origins and the place of final rest of Colón, which directed expeditions financed by Spain from the 1490s, opening the way to the European conquest of America.
Many historians have questioned the traditional theory that Columbus was a native of Genoa, Italy. Other theories range from being Spanish or Greek Jew, to Basque or Portuguese.
Researchers led by the coroner Miguel Lorente have been analyzing small samples of the remains buried in the Cathedral of Seville, indicated for a long time by the authorities as the last place of rest of Columbus, although there had been rival claims.
They have compared them to those of familiar and known descendants, and their results will be announced in a documentary entitled “Colón Adn. Its true origin”, which will be broadcast on Saturday in TVE.
Lorente, who spoke on Thursday with journalists about the investigation, did not reveal the conclusions, but said they had confirmed the previous theories that the remains of Seville belong to Columbus.
“Today it has been verified with new technologies, so that partial previous theory that the remains of Seville are by Christopher Columbus is definitely strengthened,” he said.
Research on nationality has been complicated by various factors, including the large amount of data. But genetic fichality is “practically absolute,” Lorente said.
Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain, in 1506, but wanted to be buried in the island of the Spanish, who today shared the Dominican Republic and Haiti. His remains were transferred there in 1542, then to Cuba in 1795 and later, as believed in Spain, Seville in 1898.
In 1877, some workers found a buried lead coffin behind the altar of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, which contained a collection of bone fragments that, according to the country, belonged to Columbus.
Lorente said that both statements could be true, since the two sets of bones were incomplete.
(Emma Pinedo report. Edited in Spanish by Javier Leira)
(Tagstotranslate) Christopher Columbus
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