Did Pedro Scotto discover America?

The great navigator who opened up the American continents to Europe was Pedro Scotto - the real name of the 15th century explorer known as Christopher Columbus, according to a Spanish historian.

Alfonso Ensenat de Villalonga disputes the usual opinions about the explorer's origins - that he was the son of a weaver in Genoa, Italy, or that he was from Catalonia or Galicia in Spain, or of Corsican or Portuguese origin.

He was from Genoa but he was "the son of shopkeepers not weavers and he was baptized Pedro not Christopher," Villalonga was quoted as saying by the ABC newspaper on Sunday.