GabyOn a gloomy March Monday in 1827, the German composer passed away. Ludwig van Beethoven He was 56. For a long time, he had suffered from jaundice and was bedridden. His limbs and abdomen were swollen, and each breath was a heavy struggle.
While sorting through the personal belongings of the deceased, his friends discovered a document that Beethoven had written a quarter of a century before his death. It was a will in which he pleaded with his brothers to inform the public about the details of his condition. Beethoven, who was in complete despair, confessed that he was contemplating suicide.
Today, everyone knows that one of the greatest composers the world has ever known became completely deaf at the age of 48. It all started with a ringing in his ears when he was just over 20. The situation worsened, and when the composer could no longer hear high sounds, he could no longer perform in public as a pianist.
It was a tragic irony. Beethoven wanted to know the reasons for his suffering. Unfortunately, his doctor Johann Adam Schmidt, whom the composer outlived by two decades, was never able to determine what caused the illness of his brilliant patient.
In 2023, nearly two centuries after the composer’s death, researchers from the Max Planck Institute (Germany) decided to fulfill Beethoven’s last wish in a way he could never have imagined. The scientists conducted a genetic analysis of the DNA from his hair.
“First of all, we wanted to shed light on Beethoven’s health issues, particularly the progressive loss of hearing that ultimately led to his complete deafness,” noted biochemist Johannes Krause, co-author of the study.
Portrait of Beethoven at the age of 13.
Deafness – not the only ailment that plagued Beethoven
The composer’s health problems were not limited to just hearing loss. At least since the age of 22, he had suffered from severe abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea. Six years before his death, he showed the first signs of liver disease. Experts believe that this condition, at least in part, contributed to his death at a relatively young age.
In 2007, a forensic examination of Beethoven’s hair strand revealed that his death may have been accelerated by lead poisoning.
And if we take into account the drinking culture from glasses that contained lead, as well as the medical practices of that time that involved the use of lead, this conclusion can hardly be called surprising. If it weren’t for the 2023 study, which showed that the strand of hair belonged not to Beethoven, but to an unknown woman.
However, several strands that were much more likely to belong to the composer indicated that his death could have been the result of a hepatitis B infection. Its effects were exacerbated by alcohol consumption and other risk factors for liver disease.
What about the others? diseases composer?
Johannes Krause stated, “We have not been able to find the exact cause of Beethoven’s deafness or gastrointestinal problems.” According to him, scientists still have many questions about the life and death of the famous classical composer. Where did he contract hepatitis? Why has it been believed for centuries that a strand of female hair belonged to Beethoven? And what was behind his stomach pains and hearing loss?
Considering that the team aimed to fulfill Beethoven’s wish – to tell the world about his hearing loss and uncover its causes – they did not achieve their main goal. However, the researchers were in for another surprise hidden in the composer’s genes.
Researchers compared the Y chromosome from hair samples of Beethoven with the chromosomes of his modern male relatives and found discrepancies. This indicates extramarital sexual activity in the generations preceding the composer’s birth.
The conclusions of the study were published in the journal Current Biology.
