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Alcohol and the death of Ludwig van Beethoven: comparison of general biographies to the medical literature

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Summary

Beethoven’s autopsy findings of cirrhosis may have been due to alcoholism. This condition may have been underemphasized historically, given its stigma and the incongruence with the often heroic portrayal of Beethoven. We therefore aimed to compare how medical experts and biographers writing for a non-medical audience describe his final illness in the context of alcoholism. English-language biographies were identified using a survey of biographies of Beethoven and supplemented by the authors. English-language medical publications were identified by searching for “Beethoven” in the PubMed® MEDLINE database. We included studies that mentioned Beethoven’s final illness and death. We recorded statements regarding alcohol consumption, alcoholism, or alcohol use disorder, and the role of alcohol in Beethoven’s death. The most commonly cited final illness was liver disease. Alcohol use was more frequently mentioned in biographies, but alcoholism less so. Alcohol use was invoked as a possible cause of final illness more frequently by medical publications.

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  1. Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Dongwon Lee & Benjamin Lebwohl

  2. Department of Music, San Jose State University, San Jose, USA

    William Meredith

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The article was conceived and designed by Benjamin Lebwohl. Literature search, data collection, and analysis were performed by Dongwon Lee, William Meredith, and Benjamin Lebwohl. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dongwon Lee and all authors critically revised previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

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D. Lee, W. Meredith and B. Lebwohl declare that they have no competing interests.

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Lee, D., Meredith, W. & Lebwohl, B. Alcohol and the death of Ludwig van Beethoven: comparison of general biographies to the medical literature. Wien Med Wochenschr (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-023-01010-y

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