Genetic analysis of locks of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair suggest that the composer died of liver disease traceable to infection with hepatitis B, according to a newly published study by a European research team, published in the journal Current Biology.
The research team, analyzing eight hair samples – a famous one proved not to be Beethoven’s – concluded that the composer’s “substantial genetic predisposition, [hepatitis B] infection, and alcohol consumption all present plausible causal factors in his liver disease, although the exact causal pattern cannot presently be determined.”
The researchers were unable to find a cause for his progressive hearing loss. They also found that one of the composer’s ancestors was born out of wedlock, and that a Flemish family named Beethoven is not related to the composer.
“The study also found that Beethoven did not have lead poisoning, as had been widely believed. Nor was he a Black man, as some had proposed,” The New York Times’ Gina Kolata reports:
The Current Biology study (caution: highly technical language):
Letter V 