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European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
Published in: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases 12/2008

01-12-2008 | Review

Syphilis in composers and musicians—Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, Schubert, Schumann, Smetana

Author: C. Franzen

Published in: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases | Issue 12/2008

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Abstract

In the pre-antibiotics era, syphilis was an extremely common disease. The first well-recorded European outbreak of what is now known as syphilis occurred in 1494, when it appeared among French troops besieging Naples. Thereafter, the disease spread all over Europe and, in the 18th and 19th centuries, many artists became victims of syphilis, among them poets, painters, philosophers, and musicians and composers. This review presents biographies of several musicians and composers that probably suffered from syphilis.
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Metadata
Title
Syphilis in composers and musicians—Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, Schubert, Schumann, Smetana
Author
C. Franzen
Publication date
01-12-2008
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases / Issue 12/2008
Print ISSN: 0934-9723
Electronic ISSN: 1435-4373
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-008-0571-x

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