The Polish minister of culture has rejected a request to carry out a DNA test on the heart of Chopin to determine the causes of his death. The prospect of removing the composer’s heart from an urn inside a pillar in a Warsaw church caused a debate in Poland.
Michał Kubicki reports
The request to carry out DNA testing was made by a group of genetic experts who claim that Chopin could have died from a hereditary disease known as cystic fibrosis and not tuberculosis as his death certificate stated.
Professor Tadeusz Dobosz from the Medical Academy in Wroclaw argues that it is our duty to undertake further studies into the causes of Chopin’s death: ‘Doctors have never established the true nature of Chopin’s disease and the cause of his death. Now that we are able to gain fresh insights thanks to scientific progress we should take advantage of this possibility. This is what we owe to Chopin, a great Pole and a great composer. We should know about him as much as we can.’
According to the Ministry of Culture, there is no justification or legal possibility to carry out such tests. Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski says that the decision was preceded by extensive consultations with medical experts and two of Chopin’s living relatives: ‘The negative opinion of Chopin’s relatives was taken into account, as were the rather slim chances for the tests to contribute anything new to our knowledge about Chopin. Let his heart be left in peace.’
Reports at the time of Chopin’s death attributed it to tuberculosis. But leading specialists in cystic fibrosis point out this hereditary disease – recognized only eighty years ago – was a far more probable cause of death. Two of his three sisters died of lung diseases. Chopin was chronically underweight, a telltale symptom of the disease.
Music critic Aleksander Laskowski supports the idea of DNA tests but under an important condition: ‘If you have absolute certainty that it will help promote his music and to understand the illness better you should carry on the research. However, I don’t think we have the certainty. I suspect someone wants to do this research to have tabloid-style sensation.’
These opinions of two music fans seem to reflect accurately what the majority of Poles think about the issue:
'I think there’s no reason to disturb the peace of Chopin, it’s not so important to know if he died of TB or other causes. I think there’s another cause of his death, a third version but no Pole would agree with me – a sexual disease.’
‘If the scientists want to do this research they should have the possibility to do it. It’s the value of truth that decides that the possibility should be given to them.’
Chopin died in Paris in 1849 at the age of 39. He is buried at the Per Lachaise Cemetery. His heart was brought to Poland by his elder sister and placed in a hermetically-sealed urn in a pillar in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.