We used DNA from Beethoven's hair to shed light on his poor health – and stumbled upon a family secret
- Written by Robert Attenborough, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Bioanthropology, Australian National University
Kevin Brown, Author providedMany astonishingly creative people have lived lives cut tragically short by illness. Johannes Vermeer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jane Austen, Franz Schubert and Emily Brontë are some famous examples.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s life was not quite as short; he was 56 when he died in 1827. Yet it was short enough to...





















