List of syphilis cases

This is a list of famous historical figures diagnosed with or strongly suspected as having had syphilis at some time. Many people who acquired syphilis were treated and recovered; some died from it.

Many famous historical figures, including Charles VIII of France, Christopher Columbus,^[2] Hernán Cortés of Spain, Benito Mussolini, and Ivan the Terrible,^[2] were often alleged to have had syphilis or other sexually transmitted infections. Sometimes these allegations were false and formed part of a political whispering campaign. In other instances, retrospective diagnoses of suspected cases have been made in modern times. Mental illness caused by late-stage syphilis was once a common form of dementia. This was known as the general paresis of the insane.


Name	Details
Cesare Borgia (1475–1507), Italian Cardinal	Strongly suspected of having syphilis
Gerard de Lairesse (1641–1711), Dutch painter and art theorist	Congenital syphilis
Edward Teach (1680–1718), West Indian pirate	Better known as Blackbeard. Died in battle against Robert Maynard^[3]
Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz (1721–1773), Prussian cavalry lieutenant general	Died from syphilis^[4]
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848), Italian opera composer	Neurosyphilis^[5]
Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), French poet^[6]
Lola Montez (1821–1861), Irish dancer, courtesan, mistress of Ludwig I	Died from syphilis^[7]
Leland Stanford (1824–1893), American politician & robber baron	Retrospectively diagnosed or suspected to have died of syphilis.^[8]
Camilo Castelo Branco (1825–1890), Portuguese writer	Died by suicide on account of blindness caused by neurosyphilis.
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), Russian writer	Suspected to have had syphilis^[9]
Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897), French novelist
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher	Cause of death disputed, but syphilis or mercury poisoning from syphilis treatment are leading theories.
Franz Schubert (1797–1828), German composer	Cause of death disputed, but symptoms match to mercury poisoning from syphilis treatment. ^[10]
Robert Schumann (1810–1856), German composer	Acquired syphilis from a prostitute in the age of 21. ^[11]
Bram Stoker (1847–1912), Irish author	Cause of death listed as "Locomotor ataxia 6 months", presumed to be a reference to syphilis.^[12]^[13]
Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893), French writer^[14]
Tongzhi Emperor (1856–1875), Emperor of Qing Dynasty	Suspected to have had syphilis^{[citation needed]}
Mikhail Vrubel (1856–1910), Russian painter^[15]
Frederick Delius (1862–1934), English music composer	Died from syphilis^[16]
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), French painter^[17]
Eugen Sandow (1867–1925), German bodybuilder	Suspected to have had syphilis^[18]^[19]
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), Soviet politician	Retrospectively diagnosed or suspected to have died of syphilis.^[20]
Karen Blixen (1885–1962), Danish writer^[21]
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), German dictator	Suspected to have had syphilis^[22]^[2]^[23]
Al Capone (1899–1947), American gangster	Died from syphilis^[24]
Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953), Soviet politician & serial rapist	Admitted before his execution he had been treated for syphilis.
Alger "Texas" Alexander (1900–1954), American blues singer	Died from syphilis^[25]
Howard Hughes (1905–1976), American aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, investor, philanthropist and pilot.	Diagnosed with neurosyphilis in 1932.^[26]
Idi Amin (1928–2003), Ugandan dictator^[27]

References

^ The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 2007, pp. 55–56.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hayden, Deborah (4 August 2008). Pox: Genius, Madness, And The Mysteries Of Syphilis. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0786724130. OCLC 50725392.
^ Sands, K.; Dennis, M.; Venkatesh, R. (2020). "Fr02-06 Down the Chute". The Journal of Urology. 203 (203): 293–294. doi:10.1097/JU.0000000000000851.06. S2CID 218949508.
^ Lawley, Robert Neville (1852). General Seydlitz, a Military Biography. W. Clowes & Sons, pp 178–179.
^ Peschel, E.; Peschel, R. (1992). "Donizetti and the music of mental derangement: Anna Bolena, Lucia di Lammermoor, and the composer's neurobiological illness". The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 65 (3): 189–200. PMC 2589608. PMID 1285447.
^ C. Pichois and J. Ziegler, Charles Baudelaire, new edition, Paris: Fayard, 2005, p. 224–229; M. Monnier, "La maladie de Baudelaire", in C. Pichois ed., Baudelaire: études et témoignages, Neuchâtel, 1976, p. 219–238.
^ Cannon, M. (1974). "Montez, Lola (1821–1861)". Montez, Lola (1818–1861). Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 5. Australian National University. https://web.archive.org/web/20121126203945/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/montez-lola-4226
^ Kinyon, Jon (January 1, 2022). "Leland Stanford: The Robber Baron's Troubling History". Powerless Press. Leland's sudden demise, considered to be the result of untreated syphilis
^ Wilson, A. G. (2001). Tolstoy: A Biography. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-32122-3.
^ Rold, Robert L. (1995). "Schubert and Syphilis". Journal of Medical Biography. 3 (4): 232–235. doi:10.1177/096777209500300409. PMID 11616366.
^ https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-a-very-bad-ending/
^ Davison, Carol Margaret (1 November 1997). Bram Stoker's Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897–1997. Dundurn. ISBN 9781554881055 – via Google Books.
^ "100 years ago today: the death of Bram Stoker". OUPblog. 20 April 2012.
^ Maupassant died at age 43 of syphilis he had acquired 16 years previously. (Bruno Halioua, "Comment la syphilis emporta Maupassant", La revue du praticien, 30 June 2003.) When he first learned he had caught the disease Maupassant actually rejoiced, writing to a friend: "I have the pox! Finally! The big one! [J'ai la vérole! enfin! la vraie!] ... I have the pox [...] and I am proud of that by God! And I have the greatest contempt for the bourgeois." (Guy de Maupassant, Letter to Robert Pinchon aka LaToque, 2 March 1877.)
^ V.M Domiteeva (2014). Vrubel. Zhizn' zamechatel'nykh liudei (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaia Gvardiia. p. 413. ISBN 978-5-235-03676-5.
^ "Frederick Delius Biography Sublime Music, Tragic Life". Favorite Classical Composers. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
^ "Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec Biography". toulouse-lautrec-foundation.org. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
^ Tithonus, Pednuad, J. "Eugen Sandow—Father of Bodybuilding". The Human Marvels. Retrieved 2008-09-17. At the time of his death in 1925, a cover story was released stating Sandow died prematurely at age 58 of a stroke shortly after pushing his car out of the mud. The actual cause of death was more likely due to complications from syphilis.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast (2000). St. James encyclopedia of popular culture. St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-404-7. ... speculates that the strongman's death may have been the result of an aortic aneurysm brought about by syphilis.
^ Chivers, C. J. (June 22, 2004). "A Retrospective Diagnosis Says Lenin Had Syphilis". The New York Times.
^ Donelson, Linda (1998). Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa. Coulsong. ISBN 0-9643893-9-8.
^ "Did Hitler Have Syphilis?". Medical News Today. Retrieved 2010-10-02. An encounter with a Jewish prostitute in Vienna in 1908 may have given Hitler neuro-syphilis and provided the 'deadly logic and blueprint for the Holocaust' as well as giving him a reason to attempt to eliminate the mentally retarded, according to evidence presented at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
^ Retief, Francois; Wessels, A. (22 December 2005). "Did Adolf Hitler have syphilis?". South African Medical Journal. 95 (10): 750–753. PMID 16341329.
^ Bergreen, Laurence (1994). Capone: The Man and the Era. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-684-82447-5.
^ "Texas Alexander". Thebluestrail.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 183–185
^ Idi Amin The Guardian, Obituaries, 18 August 2003: "It's no secret that Amin is suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis, which has caused brain damage".

Bibliography

Brown, Peter Harry and Pat H. Broeske. Howard Hughes: The Untold Story. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. ISBN 0-525-93785-4.

[1] The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 2007, pp. 55–56.

[Hayden2008-2] Hayden, Deborah (4 August 2008). Pox: Genius, Madness, And The Mysteries Of Syphilis. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0786724130. OCLC 50725392.

[3] Sands, K.; Dennis, M.; Venkatesh, R. (2020). "Fr02-06 Down the Chute". The Journal of Urology. 203 (203): 293–294. doi:10.1097/JU.0000000000000851.06. S2CID 218949508.

[4] Lawley, Robert Neville (1852). General Seydlitz, a Military Biography. W. Clowes & Sons, pp 178–179.

[5] Peschel, E.; Peschel, R. (1992). "Donizetti and the music of mental derangement: Anna Bolena, Lucia di Lammermoor, and the composer's neurobiological illness". The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 65 (3): 189–200. PMC 2589608. PMID 1285447.

[6] C. Pichois and J. Ziegler, Charles Baudelaire, new edition, Paris: Fayard, 2005, p. 224–229; M. Monnier, "La maladie de Baudelaire", in C. Pichois ed., Baudelaire: études et témoignages, Neuchâtel, 1976, p. 219–238.

[7] Cannon, M. (1974). "Montez, Lola (1821–1861)". Montez, Lola (1818–1861). Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 5. Australian National University. https://web.archive.org/web/20121126203945/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/montez-lola-4226

[8] Kinyon, Jon (January 1, 2022). "Leland Stanford: The Robber Baron's Troubling History". Powerless Press. Leland's sudden demise, considered to be the result of untreated syphilis

[isbn0-393-32122-3-9] Wilson, A. G. (2001). Tolstoy: A Biography. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-32122-3.

[10] Rold, Robert L. (1995). "Schubert and Syphilis". Journal of Medical Biography. 3 (4): 232–235. doi:10.1177/096777209500300409. PMID 11616366.

[11] ttps://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-a-very-bad-ending/

[12] Davison, Carol Margaret (1 November 1997). Bram Stoker's Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897–1997. Dundurn. ISBN 9781554881055 – via Google Books.

[13] "100 years ago today: the death of Bram Stoker". OUPblog. 20 April 2012.

[14] Maupassant died at age 43 of syphilis he had acquired 16 years previously. (Bruno Halioua, "Comment la syphilis emporta Maupassant", La revue du praticien, 30 June 2003.) When he first learned he had caught the disease Maupassant actually rejoiced, writing to a friend: "I have the pox! Finally! The big one! [J'ai la vérole! enfin! la vraie!] ... I have the pox [...] and I am proud of that by God! And I have the greatest contempt for the bourgeois." (Guy de Maupassant, Letter to Robert Pinchon aka LaToque, 2 March 1877.)

[15] V.M Domiteeva (2014). Vrubel. Zhizn' zamechatel'nykh liudei (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaia Gvardiia. p. 413. ISBN 978-5-235-03676-5.

[16] "Frederick Delius Biography Sublime Music, Tragic Life". Favorite Classical Composers. Retrieved 2011-05-30.

[foundationbio-17] "Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec Biography". toulouse-lautrec-foundation.org. Retrieved 18 September 2016.

[18] Tithonus, Pednuad, J. "Eugen Sandow—Father of Bodybuilding". The Human Marvels. Retrieved 2008-09-17. At the time of his death in 1925, a cover story was released stating Sandow died prematurely at age 58 of a stroke shortly after pushing his car out of the mud. The actual cause of death was more likely due to complications from syphilis.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[19] Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast (2000). St. James encyclopedia of popular culture. St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-404-7. ... speculates that the strongman's death may have been the result of an aortic aneurysm brought about by syphilis.

[20] Chivers, C. J. (June 22, 2004). "A Retrospective Diagnosis Says Lenin Had Syphilis". The New York Times.

[21] Donelson, Linda (1998). Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa. Coulsong. ISBN 0-9643893-9-8.

[22] "Did Hitler Have Syphilis?". Medical News Today. Retrieved 2010-10-02. An encounter with a Jewish prostitute in Vienna in 1908 may have given Hitler neuro-syphilis and provided the 'deadly logic and blueprint for the Holocaust' as well as giving him a reason to attempt to eliminate the mentally retarded, according to evidence presented at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

[23] Retief, Francois; Wessels, A. (22 December 2005). "Did Adolf Hitler have syphilis?". South African Medical Journal. 95 (10): 750–753. PMID 16341329.

[24] Bergreen, Laurence (1994). Capone: The Man and the Era. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-684-82447-5.

[trail-25] "Texas Alexander". Thebluestrail.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.

[26] Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 183–185

[27] Idi Amin The Guardian, Obituaries, 18 August 2003: "It's no secret that Amin is suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis, which has caused brain damage".

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List of syphilis cases

References

Bibliography

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