Cristoforo Colombo

Who is Cristoforo Colombo?

Cristoforo Colombo, known in English as Christopher Columbus, was a navigator and explorer born in the Republic of Genoa. Seeking a western sea route to Asia, he obtained the sponsorship of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, and set sail across the Atlantic in 1492 with three ships—the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. He reached islands in the Caribbean, initiating sustained European contact with the Americas. Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic between 1492 and 1504, exploring the Caribbean and parts of the coasts of Central and South America, though he insisted to the end of his life that he had reached the outskirts of Asia rather than a previously unknown landmass. Appointed governor of the territories he claimed for Spain, he proved an unpopular administrator and was for a time removed from office and arrested. His voyages nonetheless opened the era of European exploration and colonization of the New World, transforming world history. He died in Valladolid, Spain, in 1506.

Sources: Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (1942) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry 'Christopher Columbus'