On a gloomy March Monday in 1827, the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven passed away at the age of 56. He had long suffered from jaundice and was bedridden. His limbs and abdomen were swollen, and each breath was a heavy struggle.
While sorting through the deceased’s personal belongings, his friends discovered a document Beethoven had written a quarter-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. In a state of utter despair, Beethoven confessed that he was contemplating suicide.
Today, it is well-known that one of the greatest composers the world has ever known became completely deaf at the age of 48. It all began with tinnitus when he was just over 20. The situation worsened over time, and when the composer could no longer hear high sounds, he could no longer perform publicly as a pianist.
This was a tragic irony. Beethoven wanted to understand the reasons behind 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 in Germany decided to fulfill Beethoven’s wish in a way he could never have imagined. The scientists conducted a genetic analysis of DNA from his hair.
“First and foremost, we wanted to shed light on Beethoven’s health issues, particularly the progressive hearing loss that ultimately led to his complete deafness,” said biochemist Johannes Krause, a co-author of the study.
Portrait of Beethoven at age 13
Deafness Wasn’t the Only Ailment Afflicting Beethoven
The composer’s health problems extended beyond just hearing loss. At least since the age of 22, he suffered from severe abdominal pain and chronic bouts of diarrhea. Six years before his death, he showed the first signs of liver disease, which experts believe contributed, at least in part, to his premature death.
In 2007, a forensic examination of a strand of Beethoven’s hair indicated that his death may have been accelerated by lead poisoning.
Considering the drinking culture of the time, which involved lead-containing glasses, and the medical treatments that utilized lead, this conclusion is hardly surprising. However, if it weren’t for the 2023 study revealing that the hair strand actually belonged to an unknown woman, this finding would have stood unchallenged.
Nevertheless, several strands that were much more likely to belong to the composer indicated that his death could have resulted from a hepatitis B infection, exacerbated by alcohol consumption and other liver disease risk factors.
What About Other Ailments of the Composer?
Johannes Krause stated, “We were unable to find the exact cause of Beethoven’s deafness or gastrointestinal issues.” According to him, scientists still have many questions about the life and death of the famous classical composer. Where did he contract hepatitis? Why was it believed for centuries that the strand of female hair belonged to Beethoven? And what was behind his abdominal pain and hearing loss?
Considering that the team aimed to fulfill Beethoven’s wish to inform the world about his hearing loss by uncovering its causes, they ultimately did not achieve their primary goal. However, the researchers encountered another surprise hidden within the composer’s genes.
The researchers compared the Y chromosome from Beethoven’s hair samples with the chromosomes of his modern male relatives and found discrepancies. This suggests extramarital sexual activity in the generations preceding the composer’s birth.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Current Biology.