On the initiative of the Frederic Chopin National Institute, the remains of the Polish composer’s family were exhumed. Dr Łukasz Szleszkowski and Agata Thannhäuser from the Department of Forensic Medicine at Wrocław Medical University took part in the work, which is intended to help answer the question of what Chopin was ill with and died of.

Although Frederic Chopin died over 170 years ago, the cause of his death has not been officially confirmed and is still of interest to researchers. The answer may lie in genetic studies of material from the graves of Frederic Chopin’s parents (Mikołaj and Tekla Justyna, née Krzyżanowska) and youngest sister Emilia. 

“The aim of the collection of genetic material and the planned studies of deceased members of Chopin’s family is to establish possssible illnesses in the family on the basis of the genetic material, to confirm the cause of Emilia’s death, and thus to clarify the still open question concerning the ailments and causes of death of Fryderyk Chopin himself”, say the scientists.

Read more: https://www.umw.edu.pl/pl/aktualnosci/na-co-chorowal-i-zmarl-fryderyk-chopin