But historians believe he was actually born in Iceland of a Norwegian father. Knut Utstein Kloster, the millionaire shipowner who funded Sannes' work, said he didn't know whether Columbus was a Norwegian and neither did Sannes. But I hope that the possibility will be seriously researched by historians. Sannes' publisher, Norsk Maritimt Forlag A.S., prints about two books a year, mainly on maritime history. History books generally say Columbus was born in 1451, the son of an impoverished weaver from Genoa, Italy, named Domenico and his wife Suzanna.
Historians dispute the details of the explorer's clouded childhood.
Sannes said the historical evidence could just as easily lead to a conclusion that Columbus was born in Norway. In the position designating a father's lineage, it bears an emblem identical to that used by the Bonde family, he said. Sannes said Columbus' father could have been a member of the noble Bonde family who he believes fled to Italy in the 1400s to avoid persecution in Norway. Sannes said documents on Columbus gathered by Genoa residents in the 1930s mentioned the Norwegian Bonde family and other associates of the explorer with ties to Norway. Sannes said Columbus' son Fernando, in a biography of his father, wrote that the explorer never wanted to disclose where he was born, but called himself a man of the sea.