Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe

[edhopper]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/13/world/columbus-origins-western-europe-study-intl/index.html

“We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son,” Lorente said in the program.

“And both in the Y chromosome (male) and in the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted by the mother) of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin.”

So not only was Columbus a reprehensible man who should not be used for Italian Americans to celebrate their heritage. He wasn't even Italian.

Can we now rename this holiday after someone more worthy? Garibaldi? Marconi? Vespucci?

[elleng]

1. Natives.

Indigenous People.

[edhopper]

4. I am fine with Indigenous Peoples Day

But the Italian Americans use this day to celebrate their heritage. Like the Irish do on St Patrick's Day. Or Jews at Chinese restaurants on Christmas.

[elias7]

16. The "natives" were not indigenous, having crossed over from Asia via Siberia

Maybe we can just celebrate the land, which was considered sacred to the “natives”

[DeepWinter]

35. This gets lost

way too often. The history of humanity is exploration, travel, trade, curiosity. One race, the Human race, but oh how we love to subdivide and break us down with our tribal mentality of "us" and "them".

[AZSkiffyGeek]

2. There weren't any Jews in Italy?

I didn't realize Italy was an ethnic group and not a nationality.

[edhopper]

3. Yes

but there is little evidence Columbus was from there.

[LeftInTX]

33. His parents names are in Wikipedia.

His dad was a cotton weaver.

[PCIntern]

5. Of course he was Italian

He WAS NOT Spanish. There were plenty of Italian Jews…The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is the modern story.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

10. This feels like that "Jesus was a Palestinian" bullshit that circulated at Christmas

FInd a way to malign Jews by attaching them to the most infamous colonizer in history. Next we'll find out that General Custer was a Jew too.

[Mossfern]

29. Exactly what I was thinking

when I read the article earlier today.

[edhopper]

15. Have you heard of

The Spanish Inquisition?

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

26. I never expected to

[edhopper]

27. ROFL

[ms liberty]

30. DU'zy!

[H2O Man]

6. My friend Oren Lyons,

the Faithkeeper of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), has said that Italians celebrating Columbus Day is a good thing, and that others should not attack it. He points out that the Italians in the US have had very few heroes, and that denying them Columbus Day would be harsh.

Oren does think that correct history should be taught, of course. I don't think that many people believe that Columbus was Italian. I note that Malcolm X did intensive studies of the historic figure, and his findings support what the OP says.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. Columbus should be a hero to no one.

[H2O Man]

9. You certainly have

the right to your opinion. Likewise, I do not view him as heroic.

[soandso]

12. History is grim

Exploring and conquering is how it was done back then. Killing masses of people was routine. We are fortunate to live in a somewhat better period. From Genghis Khan (killed millions) to Alexander the Great (cut off the hands of captured troops) to the French revolution (non stop bloodbath of heads on pikes, including turning on each other), history is a real shit show.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. He was a Catholic.

[Sogo]

14. .....which does not preclude him from having Jewish DNA....

nt.

[soandso]

21. More accurately

it would be DNA from a certain part of the world where Jews existed. It's looks like Chris, himself, was a Christian:

…And I saw the Moorish king come out of the gates of the city and kiss the royal hands of Your Highnesses…and Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians…took thought to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the said parts of India, to see those princes and peoples and lands…and the manner which should be used to bring about their conversion to our holy faith, and ordained that I should not go by land to the eastward, by which way it was the custom to go, but by way of the west, by which down to this day we do not know certainly that anyone has passed; therefore, having driven out all the Jews from your realms and lordships in the same month of January, Your Highnesses commanded me that, with a sufficient fleet, I should go to the said parts of India, and for this accorded me great rewards and ennobled me so that from that time henceforth I might style myself “Don” and be high admiral of the Ocean Sea and viceroy and perpetual Governor of the islands and continent which I should discover…and that my eldest son should succeed to the same position, and so on from generation to generation forever.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Columbus

[get the red out]

11. He was a piece of shit

But I doubt that shows up in DNA.

[elias7]

19. Yes, he knew his patrons and their subsequent generations were going to be so exploitative.

He was an adventurer, a sailor and an explorer and probably gave two shits about money. But he was a piece of shit because you know this.

[edhopper]

25. No he was a POS

Not an adventurer. He was after gold and loot and slaves. Do some research

https://www.vox.com/2014/10/13/6957875/christopher-columbus-murderer-tyrant-scoundrel

[get the red out]

34. I am sorry, I don't just know

Most people know.

[link:https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2021/10/11/8-myths-and-atrocities-christopher-columbus-and-columbus-day/6092483001/

[Sogo]

13. Columbus Day is a farcical holiday. The Western hemisphere was "discovered" long before his arrival.

nt.

[Frasier Balzov]

17. Pavarotti.

[Chellee]

18. So Spanish researchers are "almost absolutely" sure that Columbus was Spanish.

That "almost" is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

After analyzing 25 possible places, Lorente said it was only possible to say Columbus was born in Western Europe.

On Thursday, Lorente said they had confirmed previous theories that the remains in Seville Cathedral belonged to Columbus.

Research on Columbus’ nationality was complicated by a number of factors including the large amount of data. But “the outcome is almost absolutely reliable,” Lorente said.

The Spanish think he's Spanish. The Italians think he's Italian. The Sephardim say "Please don't involve us."

[eShirl]

20. Why do we need a holiday to celebrate a famous Italian?

re: "Can we now rename this holiday after someone more worthy? Garibaldi? Marconi? Vespucci?"

[Elessar Zappa]

22. You do know that there were Italian Jews?

[duncang]

23. History as we are taught is rarely real history.

The saying history is written by the victors is true to a point. But it’s also written by people who are biased. My group is better than that group. It’s also written by gossip someone told someone else this happened. It’s written by people who have heard passed down information. I don’t doubt he had Jewish ancestors. All the travel going on at the time it’s likely a lot of people there are somehow related.

[Talitha]

24. Oct 14th should be "We Were Here First" day.

I say let's abolish the word 'discover'. It leads us to believe that foreign lands and their inhabitants didn't exist until a white male of European descent happened to bump into it. Phooey on that.

[Vogon_Glory]

28. I'm a white male of Northern European extraction

I don’t believe that Columbus was the first European to encounter the Americas, so there. (Can you say Anse aux Meadows? Sure you can!).


IMO, I think Columbus Day ought to be replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

[Talitha]

32. Exactly! Back in the mid-50's we were taught that the Nordics were in North America LONG before Columbus.

But the Natives were here before the Nordics - "We Were Here First" and all.
Throughout the decades, there's been some great PBS programs about the Nordics' early settlements.

[Vogon_Glory]

31. Columbus may have had Jewish ancestors

But I suspect that his family was probably culturally Catholic for at least a generation or two. While members of minority religions may celebrate those people who kept the faith of their fathers (and mothers) over the centuries after conquest and persecution (examples: Jews and Christians in the Levant and North Africa, Jews in Europe), others chose to join the majority religion for various reasons.