A historical essay places Christopher Columbus’s origins in Mallorca

Christopher Columbus was not Genoese, had noble ancestry, and originated from a region where the dominant language was neither Castilian nor Italian within the Crown of Aragon in 1492, that is, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia or the Kingdom of Mallorca, according to a study made public this Wednesday, 18th of February.

The book The Origin of Columbus Beyond DNA: A Critical Analysis of the Genoese Thesis in Light of Fifteen Historical Facts, written by Carlos García-Delgado with the support of the Madina Mayurqa Foundation and the Cultural Association Christopher Columbus, leans toward the Mallorcan hypothesis.

“It is the most likely and the one with the most evidence in its favour,” said the author, who presented the work yesterday in Madrid alongside Pablo Carrington, vice-president of the foundation dedicated to protecting Mallorcan heritage, and Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal, Duke of Veragua and a direct descendant of the explorer.

Based on the data analysed, García-Delgado, a PhD in Industrial Engineering and expert in architecture and urban planning, invites readers to consider fifteen “proven facts” that he argues are incompatible with the most widely accepted theory that Columbus was Genoese.

Among these, he cites the use of the honorific “Don” by the Catholic Monarchs when addressing Columbus, a title “strictly reserved for the nobility,” as well as the Capitulations of Santa Fe, the contract signed by the monarchs with Columbus for the voyage of discovery, in which he was appointed admiral, governor-general and viceroy, positions typically reserved for high nobility.

“It seems unlikely that such titles would be granted to the son of a Genoese wool merchant or tavern keeper who had not yet discovered anything, as the Genoese theory suggests,” the author said.

He also stressed that “there are no scientific arguments” supporting the hypothesis of Columbus’s Genoese origin. “There is, however, evidence that Columbus could not have been the son of a Genoese wool merchant.”

In October 2024, another study led by forensic expert and Professor of Legal Medicine at the University of Granada, José Antonio Lorente, based on genetic testing of the explorer’s remains, concluded that Columbus was a Spanish Sephardic Jew, not Genoese or Italian.

That research also placed his birth somewhere along the Mediterranean arc or in the Balearic Islands, territories that belonged to the Hispanic Crown of Aragon.