Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator and explorer who made four transatlantic voyages, paving the way for extensive European exploration and American settlement. His expeditions, financed by the Catholic monarchs of Spain, were the first European contact with the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The name of Christopher Columbus is an acronym for the Latin word Christophorus Columbus. Scholars generally agree that Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa and spoke Ligurian as his first language. He entered the sea at a young age and traveled everywhere as far north as the British Isles and as far south as present-day Ghana. He married Portuguese nobleman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and lived in Lisbon for several years, but later married a Castilian mistress; he had a son with every woman. Although largely self-taught, Columbus had read extensively in geography, astronomy, and history.

Italian explorer and navigator who set out to claim the East Indies with the help of the Spanish monarchy. His expeditions led to the colonization of the American continent, sometimes known as the New World, by the Spanish.