Unlocking Beethoven's Secrets: Groundbreaking DNA Analysis Reveals Health Mysteries and Family Scandal

An international team of scientists has sequenced Ludwig van Beethoven’s genome for the first time using five genetically matching locks of the composer’s hair. The research, led by multiple institutions, reveals that Beethoven was predisposed to liver disease, infected with Hepatitis B, and his alcohol consumption may have contributed to his death. Additionally, DNA from modern relatives suggests an extramarital event in his paternal line.

Beginning in his Bonn years, the composer suffered from “wretched” gastrointestinal problems, which continued and worsened in Vienna. In the summer of 1821, Beethoven had the first of at least two attacks of jaundice, a symptom of liver disease. Cirrhosis has long been viewed as the most likely cause of his death at age 56.The team of scientists were unable to find a definitive cause for Beethoven’s deafness or gastrointestinal problems.

The research team also suggests that Beethoven’s hepatitis B infection might have driven the composer’s severe liver disease, exacerbated by his alcohol intake and genetic risk. However, scientists caution that the nature and timing of this infection – which would have greatly influenced its relationship with Beethoven’s liver disease – could not currently be determined, and similarly caution that the true extent of his alcohol consumption remains unknown.

The Hiller Lock, which the study found did not come from Beethoven but a woman, with inscription by former owner Paul Hiller. Credit: Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University. Photo by William Meredith “Taken in view of the known medical history, it is highly likely that it was some combination of these three factors, including his alcohol consumption, acting in concert, but future research will have to clarify the extent to which each factor was involved,” Tristan Begg adds.In total, the team conducted authentication tests on eight hair samples acquired from public and private collections in the UK, continental Europe and the US.

The five samples identified as being authentic and from the same person belong to the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in San Jose, California; to a private collector, American Beethoven Society member Kevin Brown, and to the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. Beethoven hand-delivered one of the locks to the pianist Anton Halm in April 1826 telling him “Das sind meine Haare!” .

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