Chopin's heart keeps it secrets

Poland has refused to allow scientists to run DNA tests on the heart of composer Frederic Chopin to explore a mystery surrounding his death.

Doctors now believe it is highly likely that Chopin - who was frail and ill his entire life and lived only 39 years - actually died in 1849 from cystic fibrosis, and not tuberculosis as his death certificate said.

The heart lies in a jar sealed within a pillar at Warsaw's Holy Cross Church - and the only time it has been removed was for safekeeping during the Second World War.

Before it was returned to the pillar in 1951, a doctor examined the heart and found it perfectly preserved in an alcohol that many think is cognac - although Chopin experts say there is no way of knowing for sure. The heart has remained locked in the pillar ever since.

Cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disease, was not discovered until many decades after Chopin's death, and the scientists say many of his symptoms match that illness, including respiratory infections, recurrent fevers, delayed puberty and infertility.

A spokeswoman for the Culture ministry said officials consulted experts and decided that "this was neither the time to give approval, nor was it justified by the potential knowledge to be gained."

Head of the National Frederic Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Grzegorz Michalski, argued that the scientists failed to demonstrate either that they had sufficient expertise carrying out such DNA testing or that the chances of success were high.

He said that the "dominant view" of Chopin experts and scientists "is that the proposed research is going to serve first and foremost to satisfy the curiosity of the project's authors. However, it does not give rise to the hope of acquiring new knowledge that would have a meaningful impact on the assessment of the figure and work of Chopin".

One of the leading scientists, geneticist Michal Witt, acknowledged that DNA testing might not prove beyond a doubt whether Chopin was afflicted with cystic fibrosis or not.

Part of the uncertainty, he said, comes from not knowing what condition the heart was in after so many years in alcohol. He stressed that his team was made up of experts, fully capable of carrying out such a study successfully however.

Chopin was born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, a village near Warsaw, to a Polish mother and French father.

From an early age, he suffered frail health and nasal and lung infections typical of cystic fibrosis. He was so weak at times that he had to be carried off stage after concerts, and in his later years was so disabled he had to be carried up stairs and taught piano in a lying position.

Chopin spent his last years in Paris and his body is buried there. But in accordance with his wishes, his heart was removed and brought back to the land of his birth.