A professor who has dedicated decades to solving one of Australia’s most enduring mysteries claims he has discovered the identity of the Somerton man. 

The man’s body was found on an Adelaide beach in 1948, nearly 75 years ago, with a scrap of paper with a Persian phrase meaning “is over” or “is finished”  in the fob pocket of his trousers.

Derek Abbott from the University of Adelaide has concluded the man was Carl “Charles” Webb, an electrical engineer and instrument-maker from Melbourne.

He used DNA from hairs to narrow the search to a family tree of more than 4000 people.

South Australia Police and Forensic Science South Australia are yet to verify the findings.

Image: Nine News