Lyme Disease, Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Phyllis C. Mervin
#1 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Lord Randolph Churchill, father of Sir Winston, had syphilis and died a slow
and painful death. I don't
have all the other info you want but it shouldn't be too hard to find. Of
course he was in the House of
Lords so it may have affected history.

In January, 1763, young Boswell (later to become the famous biographer of
Samuel Johnson) reported in
his London Journal: "I this day began to feel an unaccountable alarm of
unexpected evil: a little heat in
the members of my body sacred to Cupid, very like a symptom of that
distemper with which Venus,
when cross, takes it into her head to plague her votaries...." As it turned
out he actually had gonorrhea,
not syphilis, but I thought his description was quaint! Given his profligate
lifestyle, it wouldn't surprise me
if he contracted syphilis as well, but if he did he did not mention it in
his journal.

*** Posted from RemarQ - http://www.***.com/ - Discussions Start Here (tm) ***

Fri, 13 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

Peter Rohlede
#2 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Quote:

> Greetings,
> I am compiling a list of famous and infamous people throughout history
> who had or appeared to have had syphilis. I am looking for the
> following:
> 1. The name(s) of any historical figure who appeared to have had
> syphilis.

As far as I know some at least in Europe well known poets and writers
have had syphillis. For example there is the German Heinrich Heine and
the French Guy de Maupassant.

Peter Rohleder

--

GMD - Forschungszentrum Informationstechnik GmbH
Schloss Birlinghoven, D-53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany
Tel.: +49-2241-142208; FAX: +49-2241-142065

Sat, 14 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

Occi
#3 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Hi Robert,
Check History of Syphilis by Claude Quetel 1990 John Hopkins U press. You might
also check Microbes and Morals by Theodore Rosebury. Viking Press 1971. I will
look thru them for you if you don't have access to these volumes. I also have
a series of syphilis articles at work in my office.
jim occi

Sat, 14 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

Occi
#4 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

BTW,
If you do a lit search and run short of search terms, you may want to use
"great pox". That is what syphilis was knwon as when it was more prevalent and
virulent.
jim

Sat, 14 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

MOnkeys
#5 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

I had heard that George Washington had died of syphilis.......... Don't know if
its true but if in fact he did contract syphilis...sounds like at some point
(forgetting about the chopping down the cherry tree honesty ) he must have told
a lie ...at least to Martha!

Sat, 14 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

GENIEW
#6 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Geez, that's really sad about Beaudelaire and the poets and artists.

One famous syphilis case that I know of is Al Capone, who apparently died of it
while in Alcatraz.

Genie

Sat, 14 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

Rita Stanle
#7 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Howard Hughes. Excellent article on his brillance and madness in "Invention
and Technology" magazine.

Rita

Sat, 14 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

JRWest
#8 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

In the 19th century everyone had syphilis. Nietche comes to mind.
Paraceles (father of modern medicine) had syphilis.
jrwest47

Sun, 15 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

tom
#9 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

.....and then there was good old Adolph Hitler

)
)
)Howard Hughes. Excellent article on his brillance and madness in "Invention
)and Technology" magazine.
)
)Rita
)
)

Sun, 15 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

JWissmil
#10 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Idi Amin--the one from Uganda that killed so many people. When he was ousted
Saudi Arabia gave him asylum.

Quote:

><HTML>.....and then there was good old Adolph Hitler

Howard Hughes. Excellent article on his brillance and madness in

Quote:

>"Invention<BR>
>)and Technology" magazine.<B

Mon, 16 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

Art Dohert
#11 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Yes, many of Nietzsche's biographers have stated they thought he had
syphilis, however, I have always had the idea that it is very possible
he had Lyme disease. The few symptoms that Nietzsche had that we know
of could be either Lyme disease or syphilis. He did lots of
vacationing, hiking and walking in the German/European forests and
mountainous regions where today we know Lyme disease exists - and we
know that Lyme disease has existed in Europe for at least 400 hundred
years.

Of course Nietzsche also carried on with Lou Salom and Paul Re but
some say that was out of the ordinary. Just my ideas on a dark, damp
Wednesday morning in usually sunny central California. Art D.

PS: A good reference that very briefly mentions Nietzsche's ailments in
a few places is "Conversations with Nietzsche - A Life in the Words of
His Contemporaries", 1987, edited and with an Introduction by Sander L.
Gilman.

Tue, 17 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT

Fyik
#12 / 12

Syphilis-Famous & Infamous People

Quote:

>In the 19th century everyone had syphilis. Nietche comes to mind.
>Paraceles (father of modern medicine) had syphilis.
>jrwest47

Have heard that Beethoven had syphillis. Maybe con{*filter*}. Presumedly that is
what caused his deafness. Wish I could compose and play the piano like that.

Kathleen

Wed, 18 Jul 2001 03:00:00 GMT