Introduction and Summary

Four years ago, I was asked to head a research project to analyze strands of Beethoven’s hair to search for clues which might help explain the many mysteries surrounding the great composer’s life. The first phase of the work has been completed, and we have found the following:
 

High lead concentrations in Beethoven’s hair were found in independent analyses by McCrone Research Institute & Argonne National Laboratory. This is evidence that Beethoven had plumbism (lead poisoning) which may have caused his life-long illnesses, impacted his personality, and possibly contributed to his death.

Distinctive trace-metal patterns associated with genius, irritability, glucose disorders, and malabsorption were not present in the Beethoven samples tested by McCrone Research Institute.

Absence of detectable mercury levels was reported independently by McCrone Research Institute and Argonne National Laboratory. This supports the consensus of Beethoven scholars who believe that Beethoven never had syphilis, which was usually treated in the 1820’s with mercury compounds.

DNA analysis by LabCorp Corporation has defined a significant portion of Beethoven’s genetic make-up. This information will be available for future research studying musical genius, deafness, etc.

Absence of drug metabolites indicates that Beethoven avoided opiate pain-killers during his long and painful death. History records that Beethoven continued working on his music until the day he died. This implies that Beethoven decided to keep his mind clear for his music. (Analysis by W. Baumgartner, Psychemedics Corp.).

Beethoven’s health was quite normal as a young musical prodigy. However in his early 20’s, Beethoven developed chronic disturbing illnesses that plagued him throughout his adult life. His primary complaint initially was abdominal pain which he referred to as "colic". He saw many doctors in an unsuccessful attempt to end this misery. Abdominal distress is a common symptom of lead poisoning.

Beethoven’s personality was transformed during his illness. This friendly and charming young man gradually became irritable, hot-tempered, socially isolated, and suffered from bouts of depression and despair. These are all classic symptoms of lead poisoning.

At age 31, Beethoven reported that he was losing his hearing. By age 42 he was nearly completely deaf. There have been a few isolated cases of deafness associated with lead poisoning, but they have been quite rare. The cause of Beethoven’s deafness is still a mystery, and a continuing focus of our ongoing research.

Beethoven experienced a prolonged and painful death at his home in Vienna in the year 1827. After developing pneumonia, his abdomen became painful and distended and large amounts of fluid were drained from him daily until his death. His autopsy revealed major abnormalities in his kidneys, liver, and other organs. Lead poisoning is associated with kidney failure and liver problems.

Beethoven’s Hair

The day after Beethoven’s death, a young Jewish musician named Ferdinand Hiller snipped a large lock of the composer’s hair as a keepsake. For a century, the lock of hair was a treasured family keepsake. During the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the lock of hair was given to Kay Fremming, a Danish doctor who was secretly involved in efforts to save hundreds of hunted and frightened Jews. After Fremming’s death, his daughter consigned the lock of hair for auction at Sotheby’s in London. The successful bidders were two Americans, Ira Brilliant (founder of the Beethoven Center in California) and Che Guevara, a medical doctor living in Arizona.

The new owners selected the Health Research Institute to perform non-destructive chemical tests and to direct the efforts to derive scientific information from the hair.

Chemical Analysis by McCrone Research Institute

Approximately two years were devoted to searching the worlds of forensics and analytical chemistry to identify laboratories and techniques with the greatest capability for chemical analysis of tiny objects. Every scientist and laboratory that I contacted offered to perform the chemical analysis without charge. Eventually it became clear that the world’s greatest capability resided in the McCrone Research Institute in Chicago, headed by the eminent Walter McCrone.

McCrone is best known for his definitive research on Napoleon’s hair (proving that he was not deliberately poisoned by arsenic) and on the Shroud of Turin. Earlier this year, McCrone was honored by the American Chemical Society as "Analytical Chemist of the Year 2000".

McCrone volunteered to perform his world-class chemical analysis on Beethoven's hair as a public service. Following Dr. Walsh's recommendation, Dr. Guevara authorized the destructive chemical analysis of two Beethoven hairs by McCrone's group.

Instrumentation for the Beethoven analysis involved (1) scanning electron microscope energy dispersion spectrometry (SEM/EDS) and (2) scanning ion microscope mass spectrometry (SIMS). McCrone's laboratory performed a side-by-side analysis of the two Beethoven hairs along with three hair strands collected from living persons. The primary result was the finding of large amounts of lead in Beethoven’s hair, compared to the three control samples.

Chemical Testing at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS)

In 1997, the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory completed construction of this remarkable facility, the APS, which has chemical analysis capability which is unsurpassed in the world. In September of this year, Argonne scientists Ken Kemner, Derrick Mancini, and Francesco DeCarlo performed non-destructive beam experiments involving side-by-side testing of six Beethoven hairs, a standard hair of known lead composition, and a standard "lead glass" sheet of known lead composition.

The Argonne research team found elevated lead levels in each of the six Beethoven hairs, confirming McCrone’s findings.

Discussion of Results

The two hairs analyzed by McCrone and the six studied at Argonne’s APS Facility all exhibited unusually high levels of lead. As expected, there was a wide variation in lead concentration from hair to hair, especially along the length of a hair. This reflects the major fluctuations in blood lead levels, as lead is deposited into growing hair.

The average lead concentration measured in the McCrone and Argonne experiments is above 60 ppm (parts-per-million), but there was great variability in the portions of hair analyzed. We plan to determine the lead concentration more precisely in future testing of additional Beethoven hairs.

The Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Naperville has measured hair and blood lead levels in thousands of patients. A recent study of 6205 patients showed that only 11 patients exhibited hair lead levels above 60 ppm. Many of these patients reported abdomenal distress, irritability, and depression.

The Health Research Institute concludes that Beethoven suffered from lead poisoning which probably caused his chronic illnesses, and may have contributed to his death.

Future Work

This investigation is continuing and will contain the following elements:
 

Measurement of hair concentrations along the shafts of several hairs (to determine the degree of recent lead exposure)

Measurement of the morphology and lead distribution within Beethoven hairs (to identify the presence of any surface effects)

DNA comparisons with other materials reputed to be Beethoven relics (to better establish the authenticity of each material)

Morphology and chemical studies of Beethoven skull bones (to derive additional information about Beethoven’s toxic exposures and biochemistry)

Continued investigation of the cause of Beethoven’s deafness