A new version of the death of the great Beethoven named after the study of strands of hair

When an autopsy was performed after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death in 1827, his liver was found to be “littered with nodules the size of beans,” writes The Guardian. Now researchers say the cause may not have been just drinking, as genetic analysis has shown the great composer had a hepatitis B infection and was at high risk for the liver disease commonly thought to have killed him.

Tristan Begg, author of the study from the University of Cambridge, says that Beethoven during his lifetime was extremely sensitive to suggestions that he was a drunkard.

“We don’t exactly condone it, but I think the fact that there is a genetic risk and possibly hepatitis B – and who knows for how long – I would like to hope is actually a slight paradigm shift away from the infatuation alcohol,” Begg emphasizes. If anything, it would take less alcohol to do the same damage than we previously thought.”

Begg and his colleagues came to their conclusions after examining eight strands of hair attributed to the German composer and pianist to shed light on his health problems.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn and died in Vienna at the age of 56. He suffered from progressive hearing loss which led to him becoming functionally deaf by 1818.

Genetic analysis showed that the five strands belonged to the same person, had damage consistent with dating from the early 19th century, and very likely belonged to the composer.

One of the locks, known as the Stumpf lock, was attached to a letter from harp and piano master Johann Andreas Stumpf dated May 7, 1827, just a few months after Beethoven’s death.

The letter contained a poem: “The head that this hair has adorned lies low; but what she created will someday grow”, alluding to the fact that the said head belonged to Beethoven.

Another specimen is a strand of hair allegedly cut from Beethoven’s head the day after his death by musician Ferdinand Hiller, with new analysis showing that this “Hiller strand” actually belonged to a woman, possibly of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

This is important because previous analysis of this strand showed that the hair contained high levels of lead, suggesting that Beethoven’s health problems, hearing loss, and death may have been caused or at least related to lead poisoning. It also raises questions about whether Hiller actually cut the lock from Beethoven’s head, and if so, what happened to it.

Begg and colleagues conducted further genomic analysis of the Stumpf strand to see if the composer’s DNA held clues to his illness.

While some experts previously suggested he had irritable bowel syndrome, a new study suggests that Beethoven had a low genetic risk for the condition. However, Begg emphasizes that environmental factors may play a key role in who develops IBS, while only a small part of its genetic risk factors are known.

Notably, the work sheds new light on Beethoven’s death by showing that the composer had a high genetic risk for liver disease and had suffered a hepatitis B infection.

“Alcoholic liver disease seems to be the most preferred explanation. But then it was the only known risk factor for 200 years, Begg said. “There have been many suggestions about some form of viral hepatitis, but there has been no proof. Now there is evidence specifically for hepatitis B.”

Tristan Begg said these factors meant that Beethoven’s risk of liver disease was likely increased. Indeed, when the team analyzed UK-based Biobank data from men the same age as Beethoven, with the same genetic risk factors and alcohol consumption, they found that one in five had some form of cirrhosis.

Professor Barry Cooper, a Beethoven researcher at the University of Manchester who was not involved in the work, said he was always suspicious of the composer’s lead poisoning theory.

Cooper added that his book Beethoven: An Extraordinary Life discusses the possibility that the composer had viral hepatitis, but that Beethoven’s drinking would almost certainly have played a role in his cirrhosis, noting that his average consumption could have been more than one bottle of wine a day. a day, which would be enough to damage the liver of a susceptible person.

“It’s good to know that this supposed susceptibility has now been confirmed genetically, along with the suspicion of hepatitis,” Cooper said, adding that the main cause of Beethoven’s stomach problems was probably poor hygiene.

Beethoven himself sought to make his ill health public after his death by asking in his Heiligenstadt will to describe his illness.

But what would the great composer say about the new finds? asks The Guardian.

“I think he would probably appreciate the obligation to tell the truth,” says Tristan Begg. “We certainly did our best.”