DNA samples from the composer’s hair didn’t match the DNA of living Beethoven descendants <\/p>
An international team of scientists has discovered surprising information about Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s close family history.<\/p>\n
DNA testing<\/a> has revealed that Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of the greatest composers of all time, may not actually have been a Beethoven at all.<\/p>\n Five locks of hair, obtained from different sources and all attributed to Beethoven, were tested by researchers at Cambridge University and the Max Planck Institute and found to be a genetic match to each other, making it highly likely that they came from the composer.<\/p>\n Using DNA extracted from the hair samples, researchers analysed his paternal line by examining his Y chromosome. Y-DNA<\/a> stays consistent overtime and can therefore be used to track male ancestors for many generations.<\/p>\n The research team sought out living descendants of Aert van Beethoven (c1535-1609), Ludwig\u2019s supposed 5x great grandfather. Five of them agreed to take part in the research and do a DNA test.<\/p>\n The two results were not a match. In fact, the two father lines, one from the living descendants of Aert van Beethoven and the other from Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s hair DNA, are separated by over 45,000 years.<\/p>\n This means that Beethoven\u2019s documented family tree does not match his genetic family tree and that one of the recorded fathers was not the biological parent.<\/p>\n Although it is not clear in which generation this occurred, Johann, Ludwig\u2019s father, has no baptismal record. His mother, Maria Ball suffered from alcoholism and it is possible that Beethoven\u2019s grandfather Lodewijk was not his biological grandfather.<\/p>\n