Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-09-13
He's Not Columbus of Genoa, but
Colon of Spain.
10 Newest Discovery About Our Great
Discoverer - Former Doubts Of
Historical Account Expressed
in "Colon EspanOl."

prove successful, the school books Of the
immediate future will undergo a striking
revision In at least two particulars that
VIII render them a strange sight to the
eyes of those Of us who have but recently
closed them. The name of the discoyerer
OF America In that case will be known
henceforth not as Columbus, but as Colon,
and his birthplace will be recorded not as
Genoa, Italy. but as Pontevedra, on the
lberian Peninsula. Pontevedra is situated
on the northwestern coast, not far south
of Cape Finisterre.)
1t was Don Celso Garcia de la Rieea who
first seriously questioned the long accepted
statements that Columbus was an Italian
having Genoa as his birthplace. This he
did In book which has since been the
object OF numerous attacks: colon Es-
panor columbus a Spaniard). To be
sure, 1T is on the testimony Of tho great
discoverer himself that we have so long
looked upon the italian city as the place Of
his nativity. yet there are those who claim
that Columbus had particular reasons for
desiring to hide the truth in this connec-
ton. and that there is enough evidence of
convincing nature to overrule his own
statement that de Geneva sail v Ell &C.
nova naci' Il went forth from Genoa and
in Genoa was born).
chez. like Garcia de la Riega, a Galician
by birth. to sustain the arguments Of the
latter and to add to their weight. In
this he is seconded by Don Casio Sampe-
dro, the president and founder of the Arch
Biological Society Of Pontevedra. It Is
neither possible nor desirable to present
here the archaeological minutes Of the
great question, or to go into the matter
from photographed standpoint. That
must be left to those men Of genius who
can, from the fusty, crumbling, dead docu-
ments Of bygone days extract the precious
facts without which no live. authentic his
tory may be written 1t will suffice to note
the main points made by Senior Sanchez in
a recent address to the Pontevedran
society.
! DE LA RIEGA'S DOCUMENTS.
setback had been given the work of
the society. some three years ago. by an
article from the pen of Senior Serrano SAM,
in which he claimed to show that Of the
eleven documents submitted by Garcia de
la Riega in his Colon Espanol." eight
had manifestly been tempered with. San
chez. in his address. pointed out that there
had been no real tamperng: that the So
called alterations were only measures
taken to make the name Colon" stand out
more clearly on the documents; that, more
over. Garcia de Ia Riega admitted these
measures. Sanchez adds that he himself
had seen the documents before they were
touched up to make the discoveries name
more plain. However, despite this set
back. group of men in Spain were still
convinced that 1t was possible to demon
strate the original claim. and that Column
bus had a special reason for not avowing
Spain as his native land.
AS a result Of new Investigations San
chez. upon the day Of his speech to the
society was able to produce photographs Of
six new documents which seem to prove
beyond all cavil that the family name Of
the true lineage Of Colon existed in Ponte-
vedra surely many years before 1905. At
the same time Sanchez presented an analy-
sis of the documents brought forward by
Garcia de la Riega (which were presented
to Sanchez by the son Of the late author
of Colon Espanol) in which he proved
that there was not in those documents any
real alteration. but merely clarified ton
of indistnct letters.
PERTINENT QUESTIONS.
After settling that the real name of
Americas discoverer was Colon and not
Columbus. Sanchez turned his attention to
the family of the explorer. I'm order to
demonstrate that he was not the son of
Domenico Colombo and susanna Fontar-
rosa" said Sanchez cit is enough, In my
opinion. to ask the very historians OF
Columbus or any man of common sense
If you had discovered a new world, which
Is the greatest event recorded by history
since the coming of the Martyr of Golgo.
tina. to whom would you have soonest com.
municated the matter. not having an alb.
sent wife, IL not to your father? Now
Domenico Colombo died In 1893, six years
after his supposed son Christopher had
discovered the West Indies, without there
being any indication that he knew any.
thng about the matter, or that any in.
dividual or group in Genoa came to him
and congratulated him upon his sons dis
tinction. II poor Domenico Colombo
had even imagined that in the course OF
t time he was to be give, as son the i'm
mortal Columbus. he would run through
4 the streets of Genoa. shouting. He is m,
a son""
. To which the speaker added another
= question: Is 1t possible that there eve
t was man who never wrote q single wore
Q In his native tongue? well. it Is no
known that Columbus ever wrote in Ital
( ian All that we have from him is writ
: ten In Spanish. and when a Castilian wore
( was lacking. he had recourse to Galiciar
or Portuguese. which, as you know, wer,
h at that time the same; and when he wrot
= to the governor OF Genoa he employed
! Latin" 1t Is noteworthy that when III
communicated with Toscanelli he neye
v addressed that parsonage as compatriot
O Having established old Spain as Colum
a bus's, or Colon's native land Sanchez pro
ceeded to prove that the town that cradle,
I the discoverer was Pontevedra He point
u ed out that in naming the newly foun,
q places and islands, Colon had recours
j. to the King and Queen of Spain and to tn
Prince, but that he never made use O
y Genoa, as would have been natural wer
e ne really native of that city. Nor di
= ne make use of the names of any of tn
seventeen towns that claimed him as ma
- tive son.
~ moreover, 1t seems to be a strange &C
y incident that In naming various island
the discoverer should have used the term
salvador, Santa Maria and Porto Santt
- Ihese names are common to many place,
IL no doubt, but only in Pontevcdra are ther
places or confraternities that correspon
!. 10 all these names. AS IL this were no
~ enough Colon named two points "Galea
- ana 'Punta lanzada"; names which. in Nh
10 opinion of Senior Sanachez. are not to +
round anywhere else than at the mout
!, OF the Pontevedra river. The speaker cor
- =, sidered this last fact one Of extreme i'm
portance, and expressed surprise Tn,
20 Garcia de la Riega should not have mer
:" toned 1t In his noted work.
Ana thus. while the country which y.
= nave always looked uDon as tho birt,