Beethoven's DNA

[Philjames100]

"Principal component analyses (PCAs) performed on the high-coverage Beethoven genome placed it among Europeans, clustering with modern Germans. Testing for admixture among five global populations using ADMIXTURE revealed that Beethoven’s ancestry was >99% European ... Beethoven’s I1a-Z139 Y chromosome haplogroup is common and widespread in Europe."

- Begg et al. 2023, Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven

[real expert]

"Principal component analyses (PCAs) performed on the high-coverage Beethoven genome placed it among Europeans, clustering with modern Germans. Testing for admixture among five global populations using ADMIXTURE revealed that Beethoven’s ancestry was >99% European ... Beethoven’s I1a-Z139 Y chromosome haplogroup is common and widespread in Europe."

- Begg et al. 2023, Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven

On another thread, Palermo Trapani linked this interesting news too. Nice to see that the information about Beethoven's ethnicity is now open to the public in a time where there is lots of revisionism going on. I vividly remember how in Black History Month and on Twitter people were arguing that Beethoven was black but whitewashed as usual. My effort to rationally explain to Afrocentrists that Beethoven wasn't black or part Moor was futile. Actually, it doesn't take a DNA test to figure out that Beethoven being part Moorish Muslim doesn't make historical sense.


Here is an article about this black Beethoven meme that especially black Americans proudly embraced as gospel truth.

Earlier this week, a Twitter user resurfaced an old theory regarding German composer Ludwig van Beethoven that's quickly become a meme. In an article from the Concordian that was published in 2015, it is alleged that Beethoven was the son of Johann Van, a white German man, and Maria Magdalena Keverich, allegedly a Moorish woman.
While there might not be quite enough evidence to verify these claims, it's enough for Twitter to go into a frenzy.



"Beethoven was black?? Lmfao y'all ain't gonna hear the last of this from me," wrote user @howtopless, resurfacing the article where the theory appears to steam from.
"Every depiction of Beethoven is of him as a white man," the article reads, before utilizing "various credible sources" including those close to Beethoven to allege that he was Black, not white.. ...

While history is often whitewashed, Beethoven was born almost 250 years ago which means there's no DNA or photographs to verify his race. Despite this, it has been claimed in the article that Beethoven had a "brownish complexion." The website Black History, utilizing Gabriel Scott's The Chosen Ones: Perception of Malcolm and Martin as a source, has also alleged that Beethoven would wear white powder on his face.

According to the San José State University's Beethoven Center, the notion stems from the belief that Beethoven's heritage was concealed by European-Americans. "The theory that he was Black is based on the fact that Beethoven’s ancestors came from the Flemish region of northern Europe that was invaded and ruled by the Spanish," the frequently asked questions section of the Beethoven Center reads.
"Since the Moors were part of Spanish culture, it is possible that Moors were part of the invasion. This theory, however, is not based on genealogical studies of Beethoven’s past, which are available to the public. Rather, it is based on the assumption that one of Beethoven’s ancestors had a child out of wedlock."

https://www.complex.com/music/2020/0...tter-reactions

[Palermo Trapani]

Real Expert:

Yes, I am aware of the Afro-Centrist African-Americans/Black Americans making such claims. There are numerous pseudo science arguments that are false from the start. 1) Moors is a generic term referring to Muslims, largely from the Maghreb, but also was applied to populations from there all the way to what is modern Iran. The Moors were not sub-Saharan African Niger-Congo speaking peoples. 2) Many Afro-centrist, not as many today as Genetic studies are blowing up their allusions, have in past claimed to be Egyptians, Moors from NW Africa, some now claim to be Hebrew Black Israelites and some claim to be the true Native Americans. As more and more DNA studies are done, all this stuff that was being pushed back in the 1980's and 1990's before Ancient DNA analysis is more and more exposing their nonsense. It is both laughable and sad that a "certain segment" of African-Americans have such an identity crisis that they reject their own genetic ties to West Africa, from which they are from and try to associate themselves with peoples and civilizations that they have nothing to do with.

So while I found the study interesting just on a Genetics of an important person in History alone, an additional reason for me posting this Study in the famous I1 Y DNA Haplogroup thread was exactly because I was aware of certain Afro-Centrist in the USA pushing the Beethoven was Black meme.

[Philjames100]

Afrocentrism is always based on the accusation that Europeans lied about and 'stole' history. Afrocentrics are of course the biggest liars and thieves there are.

[Philjames100]

The more troubling thing is that white left wing progressive types go along with and encourage afrocentric lies for ideological/ political reasons.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...as-power-today

Thankfully science is exposing the lies.

[Angela]

Interesting to me was the fact that Beethoven was genetically pre-disposed to liver disease, had Hep B, and was known to drink heavily. Those factors in combination could explain the fact that he died of cirrhosis of the liver.

Nothing showed up about his hearing loss and gastrointestinal complaints, but since his entire genome is now available, others can take a crack at it.

I'd also love to see someday which alleles might have predisposed him to music genius.

Ed. Also, see the following. Thanks to Lazaridis...

https://twitter.com/MHDLarmuseau/sta...56194519363584