Christopher Columbus was jewish?

[LuckySevens]

I just heard this, apparantly the guy who told me reckons theres some merit to it, he himself even claimed to be a Jew in private to a few people and in a few writings...

Whats the straight dope?

[GilaB]

It's almost certainly a myth, brought about by the fact that 1492 is the year of both the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and of Columbus' voyage, the theory being that the Jews were being expelled, so he left too. The first problem with this is that Columbus wasn't Spanish - he'd travelled there in his effort to get funding for his trip westward, but he was a native of Genoa (a state in modern-day Italy), and had travelled widely. If he was a secret Jew, he would presumably have been able to just go home. I've heard a whole set of ways to poke holes in this whole idea, but as I don't have a cite, I'll leave it at the one fact that I'm quite sure of.

[astro]

For: Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? Why is it so hard to tell?

More on the issue

Against -Vol. II "Christopher Columbus: Genius of the Sea" by Paolo Emilio Taviani
in Italian Journal (1991, Vol. V, No. 5/6, pp. 5-37) Chapter I: The Myth of Columbus


The extensive "against" article correctly points out that lots of groups wanted a piece of Columbus after the fact, and the "Jewish" Columbus is but one among many.

[PaulFitzroy]

Whether or not Columbus was Jewish, it is known that members of his crew were, and that many of the original 'Conquistadors' who explored the New World were converted Jews, or Conversos (who converted but practiced in secret.)

Jews were well-integrated into Spain and huge numbers of them hid their identities. More Spanish people and people of Hispanic descent have Jewish ancestry than you could imagine (even Carlos Santana supposdly has some.)

A great site about this issue and hundreds of other celebrities and Judaism is www.jewhoo.com. An entry on Columbus is in there, as are many other interesting people.

[Voyager]

Definitely not a new rumor. My Hebrew School teacher gave us this one. I thought it was nonsense then, and do now. And the rumor certainly includes that Columbus was Italian.

[Johnny L.A.]

The extensive "against" article correctly points out that lots of groups wanted a piece of Columbus after the fact, and the "Jewish" Columbus is but one among many.

I heard Chrisopher Columbus was gay.

[insert appropriate smiley]

[bienville]

Originally Posted by astro

The extensive "against" article correctly points out that lots of groups wanted a piece of Columbus after the fact, and the "Jewish" Columbus is but one among many.

Everyone knows that Columbus was a single mother trying to balance a family with a career.

[Excalibre]

Originally Posted by PaulFitzroy

Whether or not Columbus was Jewish, it is known that members of his crew were, and that many of the original 'Conquistadors' who explored the New World were converted Jews, or Conversos (who converted but practiced in secret.)

It sounds to me like you're saying that the Conversos mostly continued with their faith, only acting out the rituals of Catholicism. Now, I have no doubt that this happened, but was it really that frequent? How many generations did their faith survive under such difficult circumstances? My (limited) grasp of Spanish history (gleaned from literature classes, not actual study of history) has left me with the impression that most of the Conversos really did convert to Christianity.

[Little Nemo]

The amount of evidence needed to decide a convert was reverting to Islam or Judaism was pretty small. Many people for example were accused because they didn't eat pork - there is obviously no requirement for Christians to eat it, but not doing so was considered a sign that the person was secretly still a Jew or a Muslim. Or converts might be accused because they associated with Jews or Muslims - or even other former Jews or Muslims. Or converts might be accused because of the way they dressed or talked or made gestures. In other words, they may have converted to Christianity but they were still acting "different". Obviously many of these people were probably genuine converts who were just following old habits that had nothing to do with their religious beliefs.