March 1827 saw the passing of Ludwig Van Beethoven. A few close friends visited him as he lay in bed, sick with stomach discomfort and jaundice. Others requested permission to cut a lock of his hair to remember him. He passed suddenly at age 56. The mourning continued even after doctors had a gruesome craniotomy to study the folds in his brain and remove his ear bones to determine why the famed composer had lost his hearing. There was no hair on Beethoven’s head three days after he died. Little research has been going on since then to identify his illnesses and the causes of his death.
Why he Suffered from a Crippling illness and Died?
Currently, a few hair strands have shown false long-held beliefs regarding his health. The research answers why he suffered from a crippling illness and even died. But it also raises new concerns about his ancestry and suggests a sinister family secret. An international team of researchers’ work was released in Current Biology on Wednesday. It provides more pleasant surprises: Beethoven’s famed hair was not the topic of a book or a documentary. It came from a female Ashkenazi Jew. According to the study, Beethoven did not even have lead poisoning, contrary to what was popularly assumed. Furthermore, he wasn’t a Black man, as others had claimed.
No Biological Ties to the Belgian Flemish Clan:
However, He appeared to have no biological ties to the Belgian Flemish Clan that had brashly claimed to be relatives and shared the last name Van Beethoven. Researchers, who were not part of the research, discovered it persuasive. Andaine Seguin-Orlando, a specialist in ancient DNA at the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France, called it a significant and well-executed work. When Sotheby’s auctioned off a hair strand that was supposedly Beethoven’s on December 1, 1994. The investigation into the mystery surrounding his sickness officially began. Four members of the American Beethoven Society, a non-profit group that collects and maintains Beethoven-related items, paid $7,300 for it. They proudly displayed it at the San Francisco Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies.
Was it Beethoven hair, though?
According to the legend, it was cut by Ferdinand Hiller, a 15-year-old composer, and devoted follower who paid Beethoven four visits before his passing. Hiller cut out a lock of his hair shortly after his passing. Years later, he presented it to his son as a birthday present. It was preserved in a locket. Russell Martin’s best-selling book “Beethoven’s Hair,” published in 2000 and turned into a documentary film in 2005, was about the locket containing the hair strands. Lead levels in the hair were up to 100 times above average, according to an examination by the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.
Technology had Evolved
The Beethoven Journal, published by San Jose State, issued an article in 2007 that raised the possibility that the composer may have unintentionally consumed something poisonous such as medicine, wine, food, or beverage utensils. Such was the situation until 2014, when Tristan Begg, an archaeology master’s pupil at the University of Tübingen in Germany, discovered that technology had evolved sufficiently for DNA analysis using strands of Beethoven’s hair. Mr. Begg, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge University, said it seemed worthwhile.
Another Examination by Researchers
A Beethoven scholar named William Meredith started looking for additional strands of Beethoven’s hair, purchasing them at private sellers and auctions with funding from the American Beethoven Society. He obtained two more from a museum and a university. He eventually obtained eight locks, some of which were Ferdinand Hiller’s hair. The researchers first examined the Hiller lock. It turned revealed that it came from a woman. Hence Beethoven could not have composed it. Also, the investigation revealed that the woman had genetic traits with Ashkenazi Jewish people. Dr. Meredith speculates that Sophie Lion, the wife of Ferdinand Hiller’s son Paul, had to replace Beethoven’s actual hair after it was accidentally lost. She was a Jew.
Similar Locks
The DNA of five of the remaining seven locks was similar. One was not real, and one was not testable. The five locks with the same DNA came from different provenances, and two had perfect chains of custody. It gave the scientists hope that these were indeed Beethoven’s hair. Ed Green, a University of California, Santa Cruz specialist in ancient DNA who wasn’t engaged with the work, concurred. He said there is strong evidence that this could be bona fide DNA from Beethoven, emphasizing that they had various independent locks of hair with various backgrounds that matched one another.
The scientists set out to find answers to long-standing issues concerning Beethoven’s health once they acquired the DNA sequence from his hair. For example, what could have caused his liver cirrhosis to cause his death? According to Theodore Albrecht, a retired musicology professor at Kent State University in Ohio, he drank, but not excessively. In his email-published explanation of Beethoven’s texts, he highlighted what is available about the composer’s drinking habits.
Beethoven’s Hair Gave Away the Secret
He had hereditary liver disease predispositions brought on by DNA variations. In addition, evidence of hepatitis B DNA, found in his hair, signifying that he had contracted the virus that could kill a person’s liver. However, how did Beethoven contract the disease? In addition to after childbirth, hepatitis B can transfer through needle sharing and xes. According to Dr. Meredith, Beethoven did not take injectable medication. Despite having romantic interests in several different women, he never got married. He also penned a letter to his “immortal Sweetheart,” whose identification has long been a source of scholarly speculation, but he never sent it. His xes’s life’s specifics are unclear.
Another Explanation
Another explanation for his illness by Arthur Kocher, a geneticist and research co-author at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. It’s possible that the composer contracted hepatitis B while giving birth. He claims that this is a common method of virus transmission. Infected new-borns may have a serious infection that lasts their entire lives. A quarter of patients will eventually develop liver cancer or cirrhosis due to the illness. The research also showed that Beethoven had no hereditary ties to other family members.
Extramarital Relationship
Compared to a group of five people with the last name Van Beethoven who currently resides in Belgium and who, according to historical documents, share a 16th-century progenitor with the composer, his Y chromosome DNA was different. That suggests an extramarital relationship on Beethoven’s father’s side. Then where? Professor of genetic genealogy at the University of Leuven in Belgium and co-author of the new research Maarten Larmuseau has a theory that Ludwig van Beethoven’s father may not have been the composer’s grandpa. Beethoven’s father has no baptism documents. It is believed that his grandmother was just an alcoholic. His father and grandfather did not get along well. According to Dr. Larmuseau, these characteristics could indicate an adulterous child.
Beethoven’s Issues with Father
Dr. Meredith claimed that Beethoven was experiencing issues with his father. Beethoven also carried his grandfather’s photograph close to him until the day he passed away, although the renowned court musician had passed away while he was still a child. Dr. Meredith continued that Beethoven never denied accusations that he was the illegitimate child of Friedrich Wilhelm II or possibly Frederick the Great. The scientists had anticipated that examining Beethoven’s hair might shed some light on the composer’s excruciating health issues. However, it did not offer concrete solutions.
Stomach Issues
The composer experienced severe stomach issues, including chronic Diarrhea and severe abdominal pain. DNA research could not identify a cause. However, it effectively ruled out the two most popular theories: celiac disease and ulcerative colitis. And it eliminated a third theory, which was irritable bowel syndrome. While it’s impossible to be specific, Dr. Kocher suggested that hepatitis B may have been the cause. The DNA analysis did not account for Beethoven’s hearing impairment, which started in his mid-20s and progressed to deafness in his later years. The researchers made a great effort to communicate their findings to individuals they would most immediately impact.
Hair Belonged to whom?
Dr. Larmuseau met the five Belgians with the surname van Beethoven who provided DNA for the study on the evening of March 15. He said instantly that they were not biologically related to Ludwig van Beethoven. They had been in disbelief. The analysis revealed that the first owner of the Hiller lock was a Jewish woman, shocking Mr. Martin, the author of “Beethoven’s Hair.” Who could have predicted it? He exclaimed. To determine whether the hair belonged to Sophie Lion, Paul Hiller’s wife, he currently wants to locate her heirs. He also wants to know if she has lead exposure. The study has been an incredible adventure for Dr. Meredith. He stated that he finds the entire complicated narrative fascinating. He had participated in it since 1994. One discovery merely prompts a subsequent, unanticipated discovery.
