The Disease of Chopin. a comprehensive study of a lifelong suffering - Victoria Wapf

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is beyond of scope of this study to assess the biographic precision of both sources and to define which translation conveys a better sense of Chopin’s letters (they were originally written in French). Both sources do not specify whether that “quite well” description referred to Chopin’s digestive or respiratory issues. However, according to the authors in favor of the cystic fibrosis version, those gastrointestinal symptoms were not new for Chopin. Yet during his early adolescence he developed intolerance to ‘fatty foods’ which resulted in recurrent prolonged episodes of diarrhea and weight loss50.

      The slow decline of Chopin’s health continued for the next four years until (in winter 1843/44) he become severely cachectic and so weak, that he could no longer go upstairs by himself and had to be carried up51. 22 June 1849 Chopin had two episodes of hemoptysis in one night52 (according to Chopin’s letter to his friend Grzymala, as cited by Ganche, p.78). At that point he had less than four months to live.

      1.4 Family anamnesis

      Some scholars, especially those in favor of the cystic fibrosis hypothesis find the genetic disposition of the Chopin’s family problematic53. Both his father and two of his sisters – Emilia and Ludwika – had reportedly had pulmonary symptoms. Other authors view the family health as quite robust. For example, Myslakowski (2010) underscores the fact that Chopin’s mother, father and one sister (Izabella) have lived well into their 70s, which is about 30 years more than the average life expectancy at that time54. This view of Chopin’s family is echoed by Neumayr (2007) who suggests that the Chopins enjoyed a good health and fully dismisses a possibility of a genetic disorder55, without addressing, for instance, an existing possibility of Chopin being a “mosaic” gene defect carrier with variable phenotypic expressions56. In fact, it is difficult now to draw a valid conclusion about the true health status of Chopin’s immediate family, and more so for the distant relatives. While an extensive, tedious research work was done for the paternal side of Chopin’s family shortly after the World War II, little, if anything, is known about his maternal ancestors57. Many documents that could have helped an evaluation of genetic patterns in Chopin’s family are either lost – such as birth and death records – or intentionally destroyed (for example, personal letters) or, most likely, never existed (detailed medical histories).

      Also the life expectancy might not be that informative as an indicator of health, because by definition it is an arithmetic mean. An age-specific death rate or median life duration of the population could be more helpful for such evaluation. Indeed, according to the data of the National French Institute of Demographic Studies, the average life expectancy in France in 1810 – the year Chopin was born – was thirty-seven58. That figure was already a part of an increasing trend – the life expectancy at the time when Chopin’s parents were born, was even lower – twenty-five to thirty years. Based on those figures alone, one may arrive to a conclusion that even Chopin himself has lived quite a long life – that is, almost ten percent longer than an average French citizen! Of course, such conclusion would be certainly misleading. Two factors influenced the life expectancy in the early 1800s greatly: the neonatal mortality and Napoleonic wars. The wars took their toll, claiming many lives of younger men, thus decreasing the average life expectancy. At the same time, many children died at an early age, but as soon the child lived up to the age of ten; his or her chances to reach a very advanced age were improved greatly. Actually, as soon as a child survived to the age of twenty, his/her life expectancy was nearly equal to the average life expectancy in the twentieth century.

      Hence the presumption that the Chopins were such a healthy kin, that their life duration was double of that of an average European of their time – may be wrong. While several members of the family lived well into their seventies, the others died at an early age (for example, one or more siblings of Chopin’s mother see Appendix). Those early childhood deaths might well be attributable to innate pathological processes, including genetic defects, but at least equally well – to a lack of basic hygiene or insufficient health care in the 19th century Europe.

      Parents

      Nicolas Chopin (Mikolay Chopyn, Nicolai Choppe) was Frederic Chopin’s father. French by origin, he was born on April 15, 1771 in Maraiville-sur-Madon. He died on the 3rd of May, 1844 in Warsaw. His parents were Francois Chopin and Marguerite Delfin59. A pipe smoker60, he was prone to develop infrequent respiratory tract infections and became very ill on at least two documented occasions61. Nicholas Chopin’s presumable cause of death was lung disease (allegedly tuberculosis) at the age of 7362. He was buried in the catacombs of the [битая ссылка] Powązki Cemetery on May 6, 1844. In 1948, after the catacombs’ destruction, Nicolas’ and his wife Justyna’s coffins was transferred to a new grave at the back of the church of St. Charles Borromeo, where they remain to this day. A thorough anthropological examination was undertaken on the occasion of exhumation, which may allow establishing Nicolas and Justyna’s appearance.

      Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska (Justyna de Krzyżanowskie, as in F. Chopin’s baptismal record), Frederic Chopin’s mother was of Polish origin. Her exact date of birth is unknown, but it must have occurred shortly before September 14, 1782, the date she was christened at the parish church of Izbica, receiving the Christian names of Tekla Justyna, She died on October 1, 186163. Throughout her whole life, Chopin’s mother reportedly remained in good health64. Tekla Justyna’s parents were [битая ссылка] Jakub Krzyżanowski (ca. 1729—1805) and [битая ссылка] Antonina Kołomińska; both most likely came from the noble class. Justyna was born at least ten years after her parents were married and had at least two elder siblings: brother Wincenty, born in 1775, who died in infancy, and his sister Marianna, born in 1780. Some unverified sources (amateur genealogy forums) mention other siblings of Tekla Justyna, who died as young children, but no documented evidence was found in this respect.

      [битая ссылка] Jakub Krzyżanowski, the maternal grandfather of Chopin was most notably acting as a manager of the royal estate. As the archive records show, Jakub was repeatedly involved into quarrels and legal issues over property and money. The family has also frequently changed their place of residence, most likely due to “mixed relations to their employers”. Perhaps this could possibly be seen as a sign of an instable mental state, maybe even a disorder. It is difficult to draw a conclusion now, when no direct evidence may exist. Jakub died in Świętosławice on the 29th of October 1805 at the age of 76. The cause of death was “dropsy”, a major death factor in those times. In modern terms a dropsy (a hydropsy) is a generalized edema, most notably related to a right heart failure. Mercury was frequently prescribed to treat dropsy at the time of Jakub’s death – due to its diuretic effects. As a toxic substance, mercury may have widely contributed to lethality, too65.

      Siblings

      The older sister, Louise Chopin or Ludwika Marianna Jędrzejewiczowa (April 6, 1807 – October 29, 1855) suffered from recurrent chest infections and died from a respiratory illness at the age of 47 years66. She was outlived by her four children. Chopin’s

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<p>50</p>

a) Marek G. (1978) “Chopin”. New York, 1978:15, cited in Kuzemko, J. (1994), “Chopin’s illnesses”. J Roy Soc Med 87, 769—772. b). Majka, L., Gozdzik, J. (2003), “Cystic fibrosis – a probable cause of Frederic Chopin’s suffering and death”. J Appl Genet. 2003;44 (1):77—84,

<p>51</p>

Franken, F.H. (1959), “Das Leben grosser Musiker im Spiegel der Medizin: Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn”, Stuttgart, as cited in Böhme, G. (1981), “Medizinische Portrats berühmter Komponisten: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, Frederic Chopin, Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowski, Bela Bartok”. (German Edition), G. Fischer.

<p>52</p>

According to Chopin’s letter to his friend Grzymala, as cited in Ganche, E. (1935), “Souffrances de Frederic Chopin. Essai de médecine et de psychologie”. Paris: Mercure de France, p.78.

<p>53</p>

Such as Majka, L., Gozdzik, J. (2003), “Cystic fibrosis – a probable cause of Frederic Chopin’s suffering and death”. J Appl Genet. 2003;44 (1):77—84.

<p>54</p>

a). Mysakowski, P. (2010), “Fryderyk Chopin: The Origins”. The Fryderyk Chopin Institute. b). Myslakowski, P. (2010), “Was Chopin born 200 years ago?”. Magazyn Chopin.

<p>55</p>

Neumayr, A. (2007), “Berümte Komponisten im Spiegel der Medizin” Ibera; Auflage: überarb. Neuaufl. (19. November 2007).

<p>56</p>

Kumar, V., Becker, T., Jansen, S., van Barneveld, A., Boztug, K., Wölfl, S., Tümmler, B. and Stanke, F. (2008), “Expression levels of FAS are regulated through an evolutionary conserved element in intron 2, which modulates cystic fibrosis disease severity”, Genes and Immunity., Aug, 2008. Vol. 9 (8), pp. 689—696. Nature Publishing Group.

<p>57</p>

Baur, E.G. (2012), “Chopin”. DTV Deutscher Taschenbuch.

<p>58</p>

Retrieved from http://www.ined.fr/en/everything_about_population/graph_month/life_expectancy_france/ on February 10 2014).

<p>59</p>

Hazard, J. (2005), “The adventures of doctor Jean Matuszinski, friend of Frederic Chopin, from Warsaw in 1808 to Paris in 1842”, Hist Sci Med. 39 (2), 161—8.

<p>60</p>

Kuzemko, J. (1994), “Chopin’s illnesses”. J Roy Soc Med 87, 769—772.

<p>61</p>

Karasowski, M. (1938) “Frederic Chopin: His Life and Letters”. 3rd edn. p. 9, as cited in Kuzemko, J. (1994), “Chopin’s illnesses”. J Roy Soc Med 87, 769—772.

<p>62</p>

Caruncho, V. M., Fernandez, B. F. (2011), “The hallucinations of Frederic Chopin”, Medical Humanities 37 (1), 5—8.

<p>63</p>

Niecks, F. (1889) “The Life of Chopin”. Novelle, as cited in Kuzemko, J. (1994), “Chopin’s illnesses”, J Roy Soc Med 87, 769—772.

<p>64</p>

[битая ссылка] Mysłakowski, P., [битая ссылка] A. Sikorski (January 2006), The Frederic Chopin Institute. Retrieved Jan 26, 2014 from [битая ссылка] http://web.archive.org/web/20101022022619/http://en.chopin.nifc.pl/chopin/persons/detail/id/6362).

<p>65</p>

Ventura, H., Mehra, M. (2005), “Management of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure”. CRC Press, referring to John Blackall, 1813.

<p>66</p>

a). Kuzemko, J. (1994), “Chopin’s illnesses”. J Roy Soc Med 87, 769—772. b). Caruncho, V. M., Fernandez, B. F. (2011), “The hallucinations of Frederic Chopin”, Medical Humanities 37 (1), 5—8.