Christopher Columbus

Paper Summary:

The name, early life, and family background of Christopher Columbus has always been a mysterious subject, one that has interested scholars almost since he first returned from the New World. However, it is only since the late 1800s that historians have seriously begun to investigate the hypothesis that Columbus was Jewish. This paper shows that their arguments range from cryptic, pseudo-scientific "proofs" to complex behavior analysis flavored with historical insights. As with many burgeoning theories, the search for Columbus' Jewish origins provides a wide array of enthusiastic mumbo-jumbo and a limited amount of compelling material which cannot be ignored.

From the Paper:

"On a related note, de Madariaga points out this strange contrast of Columbus' personality: he was not at all shy about his humble birth, yet he never discussed having come from Genoa, which may have portrayed him as a Spanish-born Jew whose family had fled the pogroms of the 1300s. Thus, at a time when "the Jewish race was passing in Spain through a crisis never equaled in history till the days of Nazi Germany," Columbus' reticence about his Jewish background "becomes immediately explicable.""

More papers on Christopher Columbus:

• Creative Essay # 133328 : "How Might Adrian Louis Be Responding to Christopher Columbus?"
• Book Review # 47445 : "Christopher Columbus, Mariner"
• Research Paper # 94269 : "Christopher Columbus"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: