{"id":78114,"date":"2023-03-22T16:39:34","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T21:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/?p=78114"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:03:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:03:32","slug":"new-beethoven-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/es\/new-beethoven-study\/","title":{"rendered":"FamilyTreeDNA Works With Cambridge University Team To Uncover New Health and Genetic Information About Beethoven"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”450978″]<\/p>\n

An international team of researchers used five genetically matching hair strands from Ludwig van Beethoven to sequence his genome. The team uncovered clues surrounding the composer\u2019s health and his paternal line.<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”78115″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”82″ lbox_caption=”yes” lbox_social=”yes” uncode_shortcode_id=”980329″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”503752″]More details are available in the press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The locks of hair were compared to direct descendants of Aert van Beethoven, a paternal ancestor on Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s line.<\/p>\n

Who was Ludwig van Beethoven?<\/h2>\n

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn to Johann van Beethoven and Maria Keverich. He was one of three children who survived infancy. At a young age, Johann promoted his son as a “child prodigy” after seeing the success of Mozart.<\/p>\n

Beethoven had his first composition published at only 11 years old. By 22 years of age, he had composed a number of pieces, only to have them published later in his life. In his 30s, after years of public performances, his hearing loss led to a decline in concerts and a withdrawal from his social life. Despite the auditory problems, Beethoven continued to compose and perform music.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”78117″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”46″ lbox_caption=”yes” lbox_social=”yes” uncode_shortcode_id=”195675″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”180974″]Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. His last complete piece of music, Symphony No. 9, was premiered in 1824. Symphony No. 10 was left unfinished.<\/p>\n

Previously, the cause of his death was attributed to heavy alcohol consumption. He was noted to often have episodes of fever, jaundice, and \u201cwretched\u201d gastrointestinal problems. But new DNA analysis shows he also may have had hepatitis B and genetic factors that played a role in his death.<\/p>\n

Beethoven\u2019s Hair<\/h2>\n

From the Victorian era through the early twentieth century, giving hair to friends and loved ones was seen as a sign of sentimentality. Although it was originally used as a sign of mourning, giving a loved one your hair was later used as a memento to give to them.<\/p>\n

Beethoven gave eight friends strands of his hair throughout his lifetime. These strands have been well preserved and documented to ensure their authenticity.<\/p>\n

DNA Analysis of Beethoven<\/h2>\n

The University of Cambridge, with help from FamilyTreeDNA and others, examined the hair in an effort to understand more about Beethoven. Members of the FamilyTreeDNA Research and Development team were able to assist with confirming the validity of Beethoven\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n

New information regarding Beethoven\u2019s cause of death<\/h3>\n

While the common school of thought regarding Beethoven\u2019s death has been linked to alcoholism, this new study suggests that he had a number of genetic risk factors for liver disease. Beethoven was also known to have consumed alcohol regularly. The actual amount is unknown, but through findings in Beethoven\u2019s conversation books and a look at 19th-century Viennese standards, the level of consumption would be high enough to have harmful effects on his liver.<\/p>\n

His DNA did not provide definite answers for his hearing loss and gastrointestinal problems, but significant genetic risk factors are likely to have all played a role.<\/p>\n

Future research is still needed to clarify the role that risk factors, alcohol, and Hepatitis B played in his death.<\/p>\n

Beethoven\u2019s Y-chromosome<\/h3>\n

The FamilyTreeDNA R&D team was able to analyze living relatives from Beethoven’s genealogy who currently live in Belgium. While their family trees show a common ancestor between the late 1500s and early 1600s, they did not match on the Y-chromosome. This led researchers to believe that there was an extra-pair paternity event along Beethoven\u2019s direct line.<\/p>\n

Ludwig\u2019s Genealogical Brick Wall<\/h2>\n

The new information regarding Beethoven\u2019s Y-DNA and mtDNA has been added to the FamilyTreeDNA database. Customers may be able to find Beethoven in their match list, as well as explore his Y-DNA haplogroup within FamilyTreeDNA Discover\u2122.<\/p>\n

Customers who would like to aid in this research are able to upgrade their Y-DNA tests to provide more refined haplogroups and SNPs related to the composer\u2019s haplogroup. The more information available for review, the closer we are to finding the truth about Beethoven\u2019s cause of death and genetic paternal lineage.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New DNA analysis of Beethoven’s hair opens new theories about the composer’s health and genetics,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":78086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[743],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeethoven's DNA - FamilyTreeDNA Works With Research Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New DNA analysis of Beethoven's hair opens new theories about the composer's health and genetics,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FamilyTreeDNA Works With Cambridge University Team To Uncover New Health and Genetic Information About Beethoven\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New DNA analysis of Beethoven's hair opens new theories about the composer's health and genetics,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FamilyTreeDNA Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FamilyTreeDNA\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-22T21:39:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T20:03:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/6_Stumpff-Lock-in-the-lab_Image-credit_Anthi-Tiliakou.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"674\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"FamilyTreeDNA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FamilyTreeDNA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FamilyTreeDNA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"FamilyTreeDNA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"FamilyTreeDNA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c04f89739a101444416709433705b3fa\"},\"headline\":\"FamilyTreeDNA Works With Cambridge University Team To Uncover New Health and Genetic Information About Beethoven\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-22T21:39:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T20:03:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/\"},\"wordCount\":746,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Press Releases\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.familytreedna.com\/new-beethoven-study\/\",\"name\":\"Beethoven's DNA - 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