The ethnic or national origin of explorer Christopher Columbus (1450 or 14511506) has been a source of speculation since the 19th century. The consensus among historians is that Columbus's family was from the coastal region of Liguria, that he was born and spent his boyhood and early youth in the Republic of Genoa, in Genoa, in Vico Diritto, and that he subsequently lived in Savona, where his father Domenico moved in 1470. Much evidence derives from documents concerning Columbus's immediate family connections in Genoa and opinions voiced by contemporaries on his Genoese origins, which few dispute.
Other hypotheses exist, none of which are broadly accepted. Reviewing them, British historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto writes:The Catalan, French, Galician, Greek, Ibizan, Jewish, Majorcan, Scottish, and other Columbuses concocted by historical fantasists are agenda-driven creations, usually inspired by a desire to arrogate a supposed or confected hero to the cause of a particular nation or historic community – or, more often than not, to some immigrant group striving to establish a special place of esteem in the United States. The evidence of Columbus's origins in Genoa is overwhelming: almost no other figure of his class or designation has left so clear a paper trail in the archives.
Genoese origin
Documents
In a 1498 deed of primogeniture, Columbus writes:
Many historians affirm the document's authenticity; others believe it apocryphal. Some believe that the fact that it was produced in court, during a lawsuit among the heirs of Columbus, in 1578, does not strengthen the case for its authenticity.
A letter from Columbus, dated 2 April 1502, to the Bank of Saint George, the oldest and most reputable of Genoa's financial institutions, begins with the words:
Though some people consider this letter unreliable, the majority of scholars believe it genuine. Examination by graphologists testifies in favour of authenticity. The letter is one of a group of documents entrusted by Columbus to a Genoese friend, after the negative experiences of his third voyage, before setting out on his fourth.
In the spring of 1502, Columbus collected notarized copies of all the writings concerned with his rights to the discovery of new lands. He sent these documents to Nicolò Oderico, ambassador of the Republic of Genoa. To Oderico he also gave "the letter to the Bank of Saint George", in which he announced that he was leaving the bank one-tenth of his income, with a recommendation for his son Diego. Oderico returned to Genoa and delivered the letter to the bank. The bank replied on 8 December 1502, lauding the gesture of their "renowned fellow-citizen" towards his "native land". The reply, unfortunately, never reached its destination; Columbus, back in Castile after his fourth voyage, complained about this in another letter to Ambassador Oderico, dated 27 December 1504, and promptly annulled the bequest.
The first letter was preserved in the archives of the Bank of Saint George until it was taken over by the municipality of Genoa; the other three remained in the Oderico family archives until 1670, when they were donated to the Republic of Genoa. After the fall of the Republic, they passed to the library of one of its last senators, Michele Cambiaso, and were finally acquired by the city of Genoa. There are also public and notarial acts (more than a hundred) — copies of which are conserved in the archives of Genoa and Savona — regarding Columbus's father, Columbus himself, his grandfather, and his relatives.