Sex and syphilis: how Ivan the Terrible, Maupassant and Beethoven suffered from the disease of the century

The famous personalities of the past were just people. Someone drank, someone was not averse to quarreling, and someone loved sex and suffered from the most terrible disease associated with it. They learned to treat syphilis not so long ago. How did they cope with them? Answer: they were poisoned and suffered!

A huge amount of mercury was found in the remains of Ivan the Terrible. It is known that, since the end of the XV century, mercury in Russia was used exclusively to treat syphilis. At that time, the overseas disease reached the scale of an epidemic in Europe, it also reached Russia.

Folk healers strongly recommend mercury ointments to cure "venereal abscesses". It is well known that the tsar, after the death of his wife Anastasia, embarked on an unprecedented rampage. According to many signs, he still contracted syphilis from concubines, which he himself lost count of.

Biographers of the great composer wrote about his addiction to carousing in brothels. If this was really the case, then it is not surprising that over time Beethoven lost his hearing, and a strong purulent inflammation almost took away his finger.

According to the researchers, these manifestations could well be the consequences of the syphilis he suffered. At that time, they tried to treat syphilis with ointments containing lead. Apparently, a critical amount of lead accumulated in the musician's body, which killed him: in 1994, an analysis of Beethoven's hair was made, and scientists found a huge dose of lead in them.

In Shakespeare's works, syphilis is constantly mentioned, so that thoughts creep in: the author is familiar with this disease firsthand.

Literary critics say that the playwright's handwriting noticeably worsened after he turned 36 years old, apparently, a tremor appeared in his hands, and this is one of the satellites of syphilis. However, all this is just speculation.

US President Abraham Lincoln lived with one wife all his life and was reputed to be a respectable spouse. But... in his youth, he allowed himself an ill-considered relationship, and this brief affair rewarded him with health problems for life. From an unknown girl, Lincoln apparently caught syphilis.

Some of his biographers think that he passed this disease on to his wife, and that three of his four children were born weakened for this reason and died in childhood. At the same time, the president himself was destined to die from an assassin's bullet, but his wife, who survived him by 20 years, had to struggle with the last stage of syphilis. The disease won.

It is known that Nietzsche's father died young from a mysterious illness, so it is quite possible that it was syphilis, and Friedrich received it "by inheritance".

There is another version: they say that the young Friedrich was awarded an incurable disease by a cousin, before meeting whom the philosopher was distinguished by his asexuality. However, some biographers are convinced that Nietzsche did not have syphilis.

The famous French writer was a philanderer-allegedly he conquered about 300 women! We hope that he did not infect everyone with syphilis — he had symptoms at the age of 25. The writer literally began to lose his hair in clumps, then there were increasing pains… He had to fight them with morphine and other drugs.

As a result, the affected psyche: he was tormented by nightmares and frequent hallucinations. A vicious circle: morphine, taken to forget, became the cause of even more terrible nightmares. It lasted for years. When his torment became unbearable and insanity was no longer subject to doubt (there was a suicide attempt), his mother placed him in a psychiatric clinic, where the writer died at the age of 42.

The man from the poster — this is how Mao Zedong is perceived by his compatriots. At the same time, no one thinks about the fact that during his lifetime Mao was still a womanizer. This is what the researchers of his biography say with one voice, adding that hundreds, if not thousands, of women have passed through his bed. Is there any doubt that at least one of them suffered from venereal diseases?

Moreover, the ruler of the Middle Kingdom hated hygiene procedures: he did not even consider it necessary to brush his teeth, referring to the fact that"tigers do not do this." In addition, he literally shied away from doctors, considering them charlatans. As a result, by the end of his earthly journey, Mao Zedong suffered from a huge number of various diseases, including venereal diseases.