Christopher Columbus (c. 31 October 1451 - 20 May 1506) was a navigator; colonizer; and explorer from Genoa; Italy; whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. With his four voyages of exploration and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola; all funded by Isabella I of Castile; he initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the 'New World'.