Did lead poisoning from his beloved daily wine make Beethoven deaf?

The great German composer died at a relatively young 56 having suffered a range of miserable maladies, including the cruel loss of his hearing, for decades. Now scientists believe they are closer to explaining why...and it was his fondness for the grape

- Rob Crossan

WHEN Ludwig van Beethoven the dozen bottles of Rüdesheimer Berg wine that his publishers Schotts sent him in March 1827, his health was in such terminal decline that he could only mumble: "Pity, pity - too late." They would be the last known words the great German composer uttered.

Two days later, Beethoven died in Vienna aged just 56, with his incredible output and legacy making him one of the most revered figures in music history.

Yet scientists have revealed that the great man's adoration of Bacchus may have been the main contribution to his deafness, as well as the plethora of other illnesses that plagued him during the last three decades of his life.

New research by the Mayo Clinic in the US on strands of Beethoven's hair, appar ently cut from his head while he lay on his deathbed, have been analysed. The results show, for the first time, the highly toxic levels of lead in the body of the "Master".

"These are the highest values in hair I've ever seen," says lab director Paul Jannetto, whose research results are published in a letter included in the new edition of the Clinical Chemistry journal. "We get samples from around the world and these values are an order of magnitude higher."

One of Beethoven's locks had 258 micrograms of lead per gram of hair and another had 380 micrograms. This is in quite staggering contrast to the four micrograms of lead per gram nor mally found in human hair.

"It definitely shows Beethoven was exposed to high concentrations of lead," Dr Jannetto concluded.

On top of this, the new analysis found that Ludwig had four times the normal amount of mercury and 13 times the levels of arsenic in his hair compared with what would be considered normal for his time.