Estelle Irizarry, in addition to arguing that Columbus was Catalan, also claims that Columbus tried to conceal a Jewish heritage. In "Three Sources of Textual Evidence of Columbus, Crypto Jew," Irizarry notes that Columbus always wrote in
Spanish, occasionally included Hebrew in his writing, and referenced the Jewish High Holidays in his journal during the first voyage.
In a 1973 book,
Simon Wiesenthal postulated that Columbus was a
Sephardi (Spanish Jew), careful to conceal his Judaism yet also eager to locate a place of refuge for his persecuted fellow countrymen. Wiesenthal argued that Columbus' concept of sailing west to reach the Indies was less the result of geographical theories than of his faith in certain Biblical texts—specifically the Book of Isaiah. He repeatedly cited two verses from that book: "Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them," (60:9); and "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth" (65:17). Wiesenthal claimed that Columbus felt that his voyages had confirmed these prophecies.
Jane Francis Amler argued that Columbus was a
marrano (a Sephardi Jew who publicly converted to Christianity). In Spain, even some converted Jews were forced to leave Spain after much persecution; it is known that many
conversos were still practicing
Judaism in secret.
In a footnote to his translation of
George Sand's
Un hiver à Majorque,
Robert Graves remarks: "There is strong historical evidence for supposing that Cristobal Colom (Christopher Columbus) was a Majorcan Jew; his surname is still common in the island."