Susanna of Fontanarossa (1435–1489) was the mother of navigator and explorer

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

Biography

Susanna was born in the hillside village of Monticellu, on the then Genoese island of Corsica, to a wealthy Catholic family. Her family owned substantial real estate in Quezzi, a little village in the low-lying valley of Bisagno (part of the present-day city of Genoa). She married

Domenico Colombo Domenico Colombo ( en, Dominic Columbus; lij, label= Genoese, Domenego Corombo; 1 March 14181496) was a weaver, the father of Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus and Bartholomew Columbus. Biography Domenico was born in 1418. H ...

in 1455 and bore him 5 children: Cristoforo, Bartolomeo, Giovanni, Giacomo, and a daughter named Bianchinetta. Fontanarossa - Lapide di S Fontanarossa

A notarised document of sale in the

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

state archive contains the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ate 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."'' The Val Bisagno was a significant inland district in the ancient

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

including the valley of the

Bisagno Bisagno is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Gilio Bisagno (1903–1987), Italian swimmer * Tommaso Bisagno Tommaso Bisagno (5 April 1935 – 18 January 2014) was an Italian academic and politician. Biography Bisa ...

. Thus she was described as 'Susanna from Fontanarossa' within the Val Bisagno, rather than ''Suzanna Fontarossa''. Today the hilltop village of Fontanarossa

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

Gorreto Gorreto ( Ligurian and Bobbiese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about northeast of Genoa. Gorreto borders the following municipalities: Carrega Ligure, Fascia, Ottone, ...

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, in the

Val Trebbia The Trebbia (stressed ''Trèbbia''; la, Trebia) is a river predominantly of Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. It is one of the four main right-bank tributaries of the river Po, the other three being the Tanaro, the Secchia and the P ...

(31 km inland from Genoa, at ) and only 6 km 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."). Little is known about her after 1484. She died before her husband, Domenico.

References

People from Corsica Susanna 1435 births 1489 deaths 15th-century Genoese people {{Italy-bio-stub