Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus (born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa. He led four Spanish voyages across the Atlantic for the Catholic Monarchs, which initiated widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions marked the first known European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

The name "Christopher Columbus" is the English version of his Latin name. Raised on the Ligurian coast, he went to sea young and traveled extensively, reaching as far north as the British and Irish Isles and as far south as modern-day Ghana. He married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, a Portuguese noblewoman, and they had a son, Diego. He later had a son, Ferdinand, with his Castilian mistress, Beatriz Enríquez de Arana. Columbus lived in Lisbon for several years.

Largely self-taught, he was well-versed in geography, astronomy, and history. He devised a plan to reach the East Indies by sailing west, aiming to profit from the spice trade. After the Granada War and persistent lobbying in several kingdoms, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II agreed to sponsor his westward journey. He departed from Palos in August 1492 with three ships and reached land in the Americas on 12 October, ending the pre-Columbian era. His landing site was an island in the Bahamas called Guanahani by its native people. He then visited Cuba and Hispaniola, founding a colony in present-day Haiti. He returned to Castile in early 1493 with captured natives, and news of his voyage spread across Europe.

Columbus made three more voyages to the Americas, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the east coast of Central America in 1502. Many place names he gave, especially for islands, remain in use. He called the Indigenous peoples he met "Indians." It is unclear if he realized the Americas were a separate landmass; he never clearly abandoned his belief that he had reached the Far East. As a colonial governor, contemporaries accused him of severe brutality, and he was removed from his post. His strained relations with the Crown of Castile and colonial administrators led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, followed by lengthy legal disputes over privileges he and his heirs claimed.

Columbus's voyages began centuries of exploration, conquest, and colonization, bringing the Americas into Europe's sphere. The subsequent exchange of plants, animals, metals, culture, people, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds is called the Columbian exchange. These events, with lasting effects, are often seen as the start of the modern era. Old World diseases contributed to the genocide of Hispaniola's Indigenous peoples, who also faced enslavement and other abuses under Columbus's rule. Growing public awareness of these interactions has led to less celebration of Columbus in Western culture, which once idealized him as a heroic discoverer. Many places have been named after him.

**Early life**

Scholars generally agree Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa between 25 August and 31 October 1451, despite various theories over the centuries claiming other origins. His father, Domenico Colombo, was a wool weaver who also ran a cheese stand where young Christopher worked. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers—Bartholomew, Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo (also called Diego)—and a sister, Bianchinetta. Bartholomew ran a cartography workshop in Lisbon for part of his life.

Columbus likely spoke a Genoese dialect as his first language, though he probably never wrote in it. His name in 15th-century Genoese was Cristoffa Corombo; in Italian, Cristoforo Colombo; and in Spanish, Cristóbal Colón. He wrote that he went to sea at 14. In 1470, his family moved to Savona, where his father took over a tavern. Some modern authors have argued he was from Spain or Portugal, but most scholars dismiss these claims.

In 1473, Columbus began an apprenticeship as a business agent for wealthy Genoese families. He later traveled to the Greek island of Chios, then under Genoese rule. In May 1476, he joined an armed convoy carrying valuable cargo to northern Europe, likely visiting Bristol, England, and Galway, Ireland. In August 1476, his ship was wrecked on the coast of Lagos, Portugal, after being attacked by French and Portuguese vessels. He then went to Lisbon, where he lived for several years. Some speculate he visited Iceland in 1477, though many scholars doubt this. It is known that in autumn 1477, he sailed on a Portuguese ship from Galway.