Israel National News: Christopher Columbus, the 15th-century explorer who discovered the Americas, was of Sephardic Jewish descent, Spanish scientists announced Saturday after a DNA examination.

Columbus' origins have been a subject of debate for centuries. The prevailing view has been that he hailed from Genoa and that his heritage was Italian. However, other theories have been suggested, including that Columbus was Greek, British, or even a Spanish Jew.

The finding that Columbus was Jewish came as a result of a 22-year-long investigation led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente that confirmed another prevailing theory, that Spain's Seville Cathedral is Columbus' final resting place. Genetic testing of remains at the cathedral.

The findings were announced in a new documentary, "Columbus DNA: The True Origin," that was aired on Spain's national broadcaster TVE on Saturday.

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

In 1492, Columbus, attempting to reach India by sailing west over the Atlantic Ocean, led a Spanish expedition that discovered the island of San Salvador Bahamas on October 12 of that year, the first recorded European contact with any landmass in the Western hemisphere. He also made the first contact with the native inhabitants of the Americas, who he called "Indians" due to his misconception that he had arrived in India. He died in 1506 never accepting that he had found a new continent.

Ironically, given what has been discovered about Columbus' Jewish heritage, 1492 was also the year that the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella expelled their country's Jewish inhabitants who would not convert to Catholicism, ending about fifteen centuries of Jewish life in Spain.

Columbus identified as a Christian and wrote of his interest in converting the natives he found during his voyages to Christianity.

Columbus' expeditions to the Americas would lead to further European expeditions to what became known as the "new world," including eventual settlement and colonization of North and South America.

In modern times, Columbus' life and discoveries have come under greater scrutiny given the atrocities committed against Native American populations by European settlers and their descendants. Columbus himself enslaved thousands of native people, many of whom were sent back to Spain.

Source: INN   PHOTO: Use according to Section 27 A