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Columbus' DNA suggests he was a Sephardic Jew from the western Mediterranean

60 points| geiser | 1 year ago |abc.es

11 comments

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afavour|1 year ago

What a very strange thing to have at the top of Hacker News. Not to mention the article is in Spanish and deluged in ads.

usehackernews|1 year ago

What’s so strange about this? Columbus is one of the most important explorers in history, but his past, and resting place had been unconfirmed - even his birthplace was unknown.

500 years later after multi-year dna study, we now have the information and it paints a very fascinating picture. He left Spain in August, the same week that Jews were kicked out. This explains why he left Spain. He was known as a catholic, but it’s now clear this was due most likely due to forced conversion.

History is important, and this is a significant dna study that sheds light on the legacy of a key figure.