Al Zagofsky, publisher
Al’s career includes work as: an engineer, a project manager, a raft guide, a publisher, a journalist, a bodywork/massage practitioner, and an Alexander Technique teacher. He plays guitar and banjo and enjoys songwriting.
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Columbus Revisited
Columbus Revisited
Growing up, many of us were taught patriotic tales presented as fact: that George Washington never told a lie, that Paul Revere galloped through the night shouting, “The British are coming,” and that Betsy Ross stitched together the first American flag. And, of course, that the New World was discovered by an Italian Christian named Christopher Columbus.
But much of what we learned doesn’t stand up to historical scrutiny.
Washington’s cherry tree story was a fabrication created in the early 1800s by his first biographer, Mason Locke Weems. Revere’s midnight cry was popularized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1861 poem Paul Revere’s Ride—and it’s unlikely he actually shouted those exact words. The Betsy Ross legend was first shared by her grandson, William J. Canby, in 1870, without any historical evidence to back it up.
Which brings us to Columbus. Was he born in Italy? Not exactly. Was he a devout Christian? The answer is more complicated—and opens a window into a compelling theory about his identity.
Let’s start at the end and work our way back.
A genetic study launched in 2003 and recently published analyzed DNA from bones believed to belong to Columbus, buried in Seville Cathedral. Researchers compared the remains with those of his son, Hernando, and his brother, Diego, confirming the match. The study, led by forensic geneticist José Antonio Lorente, found markers in both the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA that point to Jewish ancestry—likely Sephardic, from the Iberian Peninsula.
While the findings don’t definitively prove Columbus was Jewish, they suggest he may have concealed his heritage, likely to avoid persecution during the Spanish Inquisition.
So, was his real name Christopher Columbus? Possibly not.
Historians believe he was most likely born as Cristóbal Colón, a Spanish name that some speculate may be a variation of Cohen, a surname often associated with descendants of the Jewish priestly class. During the Inquisition, many Jews became **conversos**—forced converts to Catholicism—who often continued to practice Judaism in secret. It’s entirely possible Colón fabricated a cover story of being born in Genoa, Italy, adopting the Latinized “Columbus” and the Christian name “Christopher” to protect himself.
Columbus was born in 1451, and by 1478—at age 27—the Spanish Inquisition began targeting conversos, accusing many of secretly practicing Judaism. The Inquisition's purpose was to root out heresy, with a particular focus on former Jews.
Some accounts suggest his family fled to Genoa, where he learned Hebrew and studied the Old Testament and Jewish history. As a young man, Columbus gained maritime experience in the Portuguese merchant marine. He developed expertise in dead reckoning and celestial navigation while sailing the Mediterranean.
Columbus’s voyages were influenced by Jewish astronomical knowledge. He is known to have consulted **Abraham Zacuto**, a Sephardic Jewish astronomer and converso, whose tables of solar declination revolutionized ocean navigation. Zacuto’s tools allowed sailors to use the sun’s position for precise navigation—and may have directly influenced Columbus’s westward route.
During this era, the Silk Road—once the main trade route between Europe and Asia—had fallen under Ottoman control. Heavy taxes and restrictions made it nearly unusable for European merchants, prompting a search for alternative routes, including sea routes around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
By 1476, after surviving a pirate attack off the Atlantic coast, Columbus settled in Lisbon and participated in voyages along the African coast. There, he learned the patterns of Atlantic currents and the use of trade winds—crucial knowledge for his eventual transatlantic journey.
Convinced he could reach Asia by sailing west, Columbus sought royal funding for his expedition. He pitched his plan to the monarchs of Portugal and England, but it wasn’t until 1492 that Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to support him—thanks in part to their converso advisors **Luis de Santángel** and **Gabriel Sánchez**, who saw the voyage as a chance for Jewish survival amid growing persecution.
In March 1492, just after Spain reclaimed Granada from Muslim control, the monarchs issued the **Alhambra Decree**, which ordered the expulsion of all practicing Jews from Spain by August 2 of that year.
Columbus’s first voyage began **two days later**, on August 3, 1492. Coincidentally—or perhaps not—August 2 fell on **Tisha B’Av**, a solemn Jewish day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Some believe Columbus delayed his departure by a day to avoid sailing on this sacred day.
The ships were funded in part by private converso wealth and in part by the Spanish crown, eager to find a trade route to the East Indies. But for Santángel and other conversos, the voyage may also have offered hope for Jewish refuge in the New World.
Today, the story of Christopher Columbus is far more complex than the legend passed down in textbooks. He may have been a man navigating not only uncharted seas, but also the treacherous currents of identity, faith, and survival in one of history’s most dangerous times to be a Jew in Spain.
~ Al Zagofsky
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