Christopher Columbus

1451–1506 · Genoese (Italian, sailed for Spain) · Age of Discovery

Known for: Navigator who crossed the Atlantic in 1492, initiating sustained European contact with the Americas

Columbus was a self-educated Genoese weaver's son who became obsessed with reaching Asia by sailing west. He was wrong about the Earth's size but persisted until Spain's Ferdinand and Isabella funded him. He made four voyages to the Caribbean and Central/South America but never accepted that he hadn't reached Asia.

He was a skilled navigator but a terrible administrator—increasingly brutal toward both indigenous peoples and Spanish colonists. He was stripped of his governorship and died believing he had found a route to the Indies. His voyages launched the Columbian Exchange and European colonization of the Americas, with catastrophic consequences for indigenous peoples.

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