DNA study of Beethoven’s hair reveals his ailments, long-hidden family history secret

Scientists have studied and sequenced the DNA of legendary music composer Ludwig van Beethoven from perfectly preserved locks of his hair and come up with startling revelations. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology, revealed several secrets about his health ailments and even his family history.

"Our primary goal was to shed light on Beethoven's health problems, which famously include progressive hearing loss, beginning in his mid-to late-20s and eventually leading to him being functionally deaf by 1818," said study coauthor Johannes Krause.

Five hair samples helped scientists understand Beethoven's family history and his chronic health problems and even what led to his death at the age of 56.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Beethoven suffered from hearing loss, gastrointestinal issues and severe liver disease. He wrote a letter to his brothers in 1802, expressing his wish that his doctor study and share the nature of his "illness" after his death. This letter is popularly known as Heiligenstadt Testament. But Beethoven's doctor died 18 years before him.In the letter, he talks about his struggle with hearing loss and how his work is what stopped him from committing suicide.

In order to understand Beethoven's health conditions, medical biographers went through Beethoven's letters, diaries, autopsy, notes from his physicians, and notes taken during the time his body was exhumed twice in 1863 and 1888.

But the latest study took samples of his hair that were cut in the seven years until his death. "We were unable to find a definitive cause for Beethoven's deafness or gastrointestinal problems," Krause said.

Krause said that they did discover a number of significant genetic risk factors for liver disease. "We also found evidence of infection with hepatitis B virus in at the latest the months before the composer's final illness. Those likely contributed to his death."

Researchers also ruled out other potential causes of his ailments, such as celiac disease, lactose intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome. Letters written by Beethoven and his friends tell that he used to drink at least a litre of wine with lunch each day.

"If his alcohol consumption was sufficiently heavy over a long enough period of time, the interaction with his genetic risk factors presents one possible explanation for his cirrhosis," said lead study author Tristan Begg, PhD student at the University of Cambridge.

His family history

Beethoven's genetic profile was compared with the DNA of his living relatives in Belgium, but a complete match couldn't be established. The study showed that some of the relatives shared a paternal ancestor through Beethoven's family around the late 1500s and early 1600s. But, there was no match for the Y-chromosome. Researchers say that this means that an extramarital affair on Beethoven's father's side led to the birth of a child.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.