Every Classical music enthusiast has long heard that the reason Ludwig von Beethoven went death due to venereal disease; however, science has stepped in and is looking to provide some answers.
It has been nearly 200 years since his death and researchers have obtained locks of Beethoven’s hair that had been clipped and preserved as a keepsake to conduct some DNA tests and try to determine the source of the composer’s health issues including going deaf. The locks of hair are believed to be “almost certainly authentic” with all five samples coming from the same male of European ancestry.
The testing gave no clues to the source of Beethoven’s stomach ailments or hearing issues; but they did discover that he had a genetic predisposition toward liver disease and that he was suffering from Hepatitis B at the time of his death.
Scientists now believe that Beethoven’s preference to alcohol and liver issues were the cause of death; not the syphilis that is so commonly spread about.
Best known for his Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, Ludwig von Beethoven died at the age of 56 on Marcy 26, 1827. Prior to his death, he had requested that scientists study his health issues upon his death. He had completely lost his hearing by the time he completed the Ninth Symphony – which include “Ode to Joy”.
And since that time, scientists have tried to determine Beethoven’s medical history. Leonardo di Vinci may have been the original coroner, but autopsies were unheard of in Beethoven’s time.
Author of the DNA study and geneticist at the University Hospital in Bonn, Germany Axel Schmidt noted, “with Beethoven in particular, it is the case that illnesses sometimes very much limited his creative work. And for physicians, it has always been a mystery what was really behind it.”
Study author and biological anthropologist at the University of Cambridge Tristan James noted that after cleaning each strand of hair, the scientists dissolved pieces into a solution to retrieve chunks of DNA.
Paleogeticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Johannes Krause added that getting genes is a challenge since hair DNA is chopped into fragments. It took about 10 feet worth of hair in order build a genome.
Future advances in DNA technology may offer some glimpses into Beethoven’s genetics.
One discovery was that somewhere in Beethoven’s family tree there was a child born as the result of an extramarital relationship.
Feature photo credit: [[File:Beethoven.jpg|Beethoven]]