Tuesday, March 14, 2006 5:20 PM
Columbus Remains to be Returned and ReBuried in Genoa, Italy ?????

The ANNOTICO Report

On one hand I wonder why the constant questioning of Columbus Italian Heritage??

On the other hand I appreciate the continuing attention Columbus receives. Because so many of our Italian and Italian American Heroes have been delegated to obscurity by an ANGLO centric US.

Americans, Italian Americans, Italians and others have LITTLE awareness of the INCREDIBLE number of  Italians who have made enormous contributions to Western Culture.

And, Einstein still lays claim to PePretto's discoveries, as Alexander Graham Bell does to Meucci's.   

Italy, or Italian Americans should make more of an effort to translate important Italian Books into English.

Otherwise, we are deprived of the knowledge of our REAL History and Culture, and allow others to tell US what OUR History is!!!!

In this article, DNA investigation will attempt to REALLY determine where Columbus was BORN. Traditional theory  holds that Columbus hails from Genoa, Italy. Some say he was Spanish, a Greek, a Basque or Portuguese.

Also, there is a debate as to where Columbus is buried, since both Spain, and Dominican Republic are  fighting for that honor.

The scientists are going to match DNA taken from "supposed" Columbo descendents 25 generations after the fact, with no possibility of "illegitimacy" or other "bloodlines" influencing the results ????

IF it is FINALLY proven OR Not disproven regarding Columbus Italian birth, Italy should DEMAND the return of his Remains to GENOA for a proper Memorial. What right does either Spain or Dominican Republic  have to his Remains????????

Would Russia have a right to keep Napoleon's remains had he died in Russia, or Afghanistan to keep Geo Bush's remains if he died on a trip there. Wait let me reconsider that last one. :)

COLUMBUS MYSTERY NEARLY SOLVED 500 YEARS AFTER DEATH

Reuters

By Phil Stewart

Fri Mar 10, 2006

ROME (Reuters) - Nearly 500 years after the death of Christopher Columbus, a team of genetic researchers are using DNA to solve two nagging mysteries: Where was the explorer really born? And where the devil are his bones?

Debate about origins and final resting place of Columbus has raged for over a century, with historians questioning the traditional theory that he hails from Genoa, Italy. Some say he was Spanish, a Greek, a Basque or Portuguese.

Even the location of his remains is the subject of controversy. The Dominican Republic and Spain both stake claims as the final resting place of Columbus, who died in May, 1506.

The Spanish-led research team, which includes Italians, Americans and Germans, sampled DNA from the known remains from Columbus' brother and son, and then compared them to fragments attributed to Columbus in Seville.

Although the official announcement is expected later this year, Italian researchers say they are confident based on the evidence gathered so far that Columbus' supposed remains in Seville are likely authentic.

"We have already started all of the analyses on a molecular level and we have good indications that the remains in Seville are effectively those of Christopher," said Olga Rickards, head of the team at Rome's Tor Vergata University laboratory.

If confirmed, it could lay to rest a dispute dating back to 1877, when Dominican workers found a lead casket buried behind the altar in Santo Domingo's cathedral containing a collection of bone fragments the country says belong to Columbus.

The bones should have left the island for Cuba in 1795 and then been sent along Spain a century later.

But the casket was inscribed with the words "Illustrious and distinguished male, Don Cristobal Colon" - the Spanish rendering of Christopher Columbus.

"Nobody knows (about the Dominican remains) ... because they haven't yet allowed DNA analysis," Rickards told Reuters.

Little is known about the early life of Columbus, the reputed son of a weaver in Genoa who would later change the world by accidentally stumbling upon the Americas in 1492.

With so many different theories about his origin, the DNA researchers hope to settle the matter once and for all by obtaining genetic samples from Europeans with the name Columbus.

In Italy, the researchers sent letters to modern-day "Colombo" men asking them to use cotton swabs to sample saliva from inside their mouths.

"We sent out 250 letters ... and we have already received 16 positive responses," Rickards told Reuters.

The Spanish had sampled less than 150 people, she said.

"If we're lucky, we might have a result by May, which is the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' death," she said.

Genoa's mayor, Giuseppe Pericu, joked to a newspaper that Columbus would wind up being "Genovese" -- one way or another.

"If it turns out that Columbus wasn't Genovese, we'll make him an honorary citizen," he said.

http://today.reuters.com/news/

newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=

2006-03-10T142318Z_01_L10359797_RTRUKOC

_0_US-SCIENCE-COLUMBUS.xml&archived=False

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