- Susanna Fontanarossa
Susanna Fontanarossa (?-?) "(Susanna of Fontarossa)" was the mother of
Cristoforo Colombo , a Genoese wool weaver commonly believed to have beenChristopher Columbus , the famous navigator and explorer who was generally credited as a discoverer of the Americas, although contemporary scholarship is less equivocal.Almost nothing is known about her before her marriage to Domenico Colombo in 1445. She bore 5 children to Domenico:
Cristoforo Colombo ,Bartolomeo Colombo , Giovanni Colombo, Giacomo Colombo and a daughter named Bianchinetta Colombo.A notarised document of sale in the
Genoa state archive contains the Latinate text "«Sozana,(quondam) de Jacobi de Fontana Rubea, uxor Dominici de Columbo de Ianua ac Christophorus et Pelegrinus filii eorum»", which can be translated as "Susanna was (the daughter) of Giacomo from Fontanarossa of the Bisagno, wife of Domenico Columbus from Genoa, their sons are Cristoforo and Pellegrino." TheVal Bisagno was a significant inland district in the ancientRepublic of Genoa including the valley of the river Bisagno. Thus she was described as 'Susanna from Fontanarossa' within the Val Bisagno, rather than "Suzanna Fontarossa".Today the hilltop village of
Fontanarossa ,Goretto ,Genova ,Liguria , in the Val Trebbia, (20 miles inland of Genoa at coord|44|35|10.66|N|9|15|18.80|E|) and only 4 miles beyond the watershed of the river Bisagno), has a marble stone with the inscription "Susanna Fontanarossa, the mother of Christopher Columbus, was born in this village". ("In questo borgo nacque Susanna Fontanarossa, madre di Cristoforo Colombo."). The village records state that she may have been born in the hamlet of “Le Ferriere”.Little is known about her after 1484. She died before Domenico, her husband.
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