Marble and Resin Christopher Columbus Pieces on Walnut and Maple BoardTHE PIECES Christopher Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today Northwestern Italy. His father was a middle class wool merchant. Columbus learnt to sail from an early age and later worked as a business agent, traveling around Europe to England, Ireland and later along the West coast of Africa. He was not a scholar, but was an enthusiastic self educated man, who read extensively on astronomy, science and navigation. He also became