Christopher Columbus, the 15th century explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic led to the European awareness of the American continents, was actually a Scotsman called Pedro Scotto, a Spanish historian has claimed.

Alfonso Ensenat de Villalonga has clearly ruled out the existing theories that Columbus was the son of a weaver in Genoa, Italy, or that he was from Catalonia in Spain.

In fact, Columbus was from Genoa in Italy, but he was "the son of shopkeepers not weavers and he was baptised Pedro not Christopher", and his family originally hailed from Scotland, Villalonga told Spain's ABC newspaper.

"He had light-coloured eyes and freckles. He also had blond hair even though it quickly turned white. That's how his contemporaries described him."

"Nothing like the traditional images (of him), which are totally invented," leading British newspaper The Daily Telegraph quoted the noted historian as telling the Spanish daily in an exclusive interview.

To corroborate his claims, Villalonga has also cited a chronicle of Catholic kings written by Lucio Marineo Siculo, who referred in his writings to "Pedro Columbus", and not Christopher.

The historian has also claimed that the navigator once worked for a pirate called Vincenzo Columbus, and adopted that family name in order not to "expose" his relations with Spain as the Spanish Queen funded his voyages.

Villalonga said his research involved combing the archives in the Genoa region along with those in the Spanish history academy and national library.