Hair Analyses Shed Further Light on Life and Death and Beethoven

Hair Analysis Reveals Hepatitis B Infection and Genetic Predisposition to Liver Disease Likely Played a Role in Ludwig van Beethoven’s death.

Today marks 196 years since the death of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. He died the late afternoon of March 26, 1827 after a long illness.  He  was just 56 years old.

Beethoven’s wish was for the cause of his illness to be studied after his death.  In fact, Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers in 1802 (some 25 year before his actual death)  asking that his doctor, Johann Adam Schmidt, determine and share the nature of his illness after Beethoven died. The letter is known as the “Heiligenstadt Testament.” Beethoven would go on to outlive Dr Schmidt but the “Heiligenstadt Testament” was discovered in Beethoven’s writing desk after his death.

Beethoven’s specific wish was for his illness to be studied "as far as possible at least the world will be reconciled to me after my death."

Beethoven’s Health

Beethoven had several health problems throughout his life which included progressive hearing loss that began in his mid- to late-20s, Beethoven became deaf by 1818 and lived the last 9 years without hearing. He continued to compose but stopped performing in his mid 40s. For about 30 years - from at least the age of 22 – Beethoven is thought to have suffered severe abdominal pains and chronic bouts of diarrhea.

Beethoven became quite sick in Dec 1826 - the previous Christmas before his death – and suffered attacks of jaundice. His limbs and abdomen became swollen.

Begg et al 2023

In a new study, researchers took additional steps in an attempt to honor Beethoven’s request to have the cause of his death better understood. The researchers did so by analyzing Beethoven's DNA from preserved locks of his hair and sequencing the composer's genome for the first time.

The research team started by analyzing a total of eight hair samples from public and private collections across the UK, Europe and the US. Surprisingly, during their research to authenticate the samples, they discovered that two of the samples didn't actually come from Beethoven at all, while another was too damaged to analyze. That left just 5 hair samples. Data showed that Beethoven had a predisposition for liver disease and became infected with hepatitis B virus in his final months. Together with high chronic alcohol use, the infection with Hepatitis B and his genetic predisposition to liver disease likely contributed to his death. The hair analysis could not uncover the cause of deafness or the gastrointestinal issues. The analyses showed that prior explanations of lead poisoning were likely incorrect as these were based on the hair sample which was not Beeethoven’s at all.

REFERENCE

Begg TJA et al. Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven. Curr Biol. 2023 Mar 13;S0960-9822(23)00181-1.