An Israeli researcher of Christopher Columbus’ genealogy 14 years before the sensational discovery of Spanish scientists published an article in which he proved that Columbus was not just a Jew – he was a descendant of King David. But Marran, a baptized Jew, as some historians believed, was not. This explains why the navigator hid his true origins from the Spanish crown during the Holy Inquisition. Alexander Yonatan Widgop, founder of the “Am haZikaron” Institute, tells Aliya Sudakova on the final newscast of Israel’s Channel 9. His work, based on letters, diary entries, ship’s log, reports to the royal couple about the expedition, as well as the genealogy of the navigator’s family, went virtually unnoticed. Until the results of the genetic examination of the remains of Columbus and his family members, conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Granada, were received in October 2024, and Columbus’ Jewish ancestry was scientifically confirmed.
