A new theory on Ludwig van Beethoven’s death blames his heavy drinking, hepatitis B infection and a predisposition to liver disease based on genetic testing of 194-year-old hair samples. 

Doctors have spent years debating the cause of the German composer’s death in 1827, given his extensive medical history including complete deafness, jaundice and gastrointestinal complaints. 

Theories from medical biographers largely rely on Beethoven’s letters and diaries, as well as third-hand accounts, including descriptions of his skeletal remains following exhumations of his body in 1863 and 1888. 

But now an international team led by the University of Cambridge in the UK has provided long-sought genetic insight into his liver disease nearly 200 years after his death at age 56.