Napoleon Poisoning Claims Debunk

Feb. 11, 2008 -- Napoleon Bonaparte did not die from arsenic poisoning, a new examination of the French emperor's hair has established.

The man who dominated much of Europe in the early 19th century died at age 52 in British-imposed exile on St. Helena in the south Atlantic, where he had been banished after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

For decades, scholars have debated how Napoleon met his early death on May 5, 1821.

The autopsy and conclusion of his personal doctor, Francesco Antommarchi, indicated that Napoleon died of stomach cancer.

But the veracity of Antommarchi's report was questioned in 1961, and more recently in 2001, when high arsenic levels were found in Napoleon's hair. Various theories of conspiracy, treachery and poisoning followed.

According to those claims, the former French Emperor was poisoned to prevent a return to power if he escaped exile.

Now, Italian scientists have repeated the hair testing using a small nuclear reactor. The study will be published in the March issue of the Italian journal Il Saggiatore.

Researchers from the universities of Pavia and Milan analyzed several hair samples that had been taken during different periods of Napoleon Bonaparte's life -- from when he was a boy in Corsica, during his exile on the Island of Elba, on the day of his death on the Island of Saint Helena, and on the day after his death.

Samples taken from Napoleon II (Bonaparte's son) in the years 1812, 1816, 1821 and 1826, and samples from Napoleon's wife the Empress Josephine, collected upon her death in 1814, were also analyzed.

In addition to those historical samples, obtained from various French and Italian museums, the researchers tested ten hairs taken from randomly selected people alive today.

"It was very important to compare Napoleon's hair not only with samples from living persons, but also with samples taken from his close relatives," said Adalberto Piazzoli of the University of Pavia's Theoretical and Nuclear Physics Department.

The hairs were placed in capsules and inserted into the core of the nuclear reactor in Pavia. Known as "neutron activation," the technology provides precise results, even on tiny samples.

"Indeed we found that Napoleon's hair had high arsenic concentrations. But we found the same high concentration in samples belonging to his son and wife. Basically, the level of arsenic in all of the hair samples from 200 years ago is 100 times greater than the average level detected in samples from persons living today," Piazzoli said.

At the beginning of the 19th century, that finding suggests, arsenic was present in the environment in quantities that are currently considered very dangerous.

"Moreover, there were no significant differences in arsenic levels between when Napoleon was a boy and during his final days in Saint Helena. This shows clearly that the high arsenic concentration in Napoleon's hair wasn't due to poisoning. Instead, it is the result of a constant absorption of arsenic," Piazzoli said.

According to Ezio Previtali of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, "discovering that 200 years ago people were 100 times more exposed to arsenic than today is one of the most intriguing aspects of the research."

"I believe that this research has established new reference points, but I'm sure there will be more studies over Napoleon's death, because of the fascination this figure still exerts," Previtali told the daily La Repubblica.

The latest study into Napoleon's death, reported in 2007 in Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology, compared historical accounts with modern pathological and tumor-staging methods to point to advanced gastric cancer as the cause of death.

The gastric cancer diagnosis was also supported by a 2005 Swiss study which examined 12 pairs of trousers worn by Napoleon between 1800 and 1821. The trousers showed that Bonaparte dramatically slimmed down in the final six months of his life, losing almost 5 inches from his waist and more than 24 pounds, weight loss that would be consistent with a diagnosis of gastric cancer.

揭穿拿破仑被毒身亡的传闻

拿破仑.波拿巴并非死于砷中毒，最新的一次对这位法兰西皇帝的头发的检测确立了这个结论。

这位在19世纪早期统治了大部分欧洲的人52岁时死于他被英国流放的南大西洋的圣赫勒拿岛上，他在滑铁卢战役失败后被流放到了该岛上。

多年来，学者们对于拿破仑为什么会在1821年5月5日英年早逝争论不休。他的私人医生佛朗西斯科.安东马尔基验尸后得出的结论是拿破仑死于胃癌。但安东马尔基的报告的真实性在1961年遭到质疑。最近一次在2001年在拿破仑的头发中发现了高含量的砷，各种关于投毒的阴谋论接踵而至。根据那些说法，为了防止这位前法兰西皇帝逃脱流放并重返帝位，他被毒死了。

目前，意大利科学家们用一个小型核反应器对头发重复了测试，结果会刊登在三月号的意大利Il Saggiatore杂志上。

来自帕维亚和米兰大学的学者们分析了提取自拿破仑生命中不同时期的头发：在Corsica的少年期，在埃尔巴岛流放期，在圣赫勒拿岛逝世时和逝世后的头发样本。另外，拿破仑二世（波拿巴的儿子)在1812年，1816年，1821年和1826年的头发样本，以及1814年拿破仑妻子约瑟芬皇后逝世时的头发样本都被进行了分析。

除了这些从法国和意大利各地博物馆收集的历史样本，学者们也测试了10根随机提取的现在的人的头发。

帕维亚大学理论和核物理系的Adalberto Piazzoli说：“重要的是不仅仅将拿破仑的头发样本和现如今的人的头发相比较，而且也要与他的近亲的头发相比较。”

这些头发被放进一只胶囊容器并塞进在帕维亚的一个核反应器中心。这种被称作“中子激活分析”的技术甚至能对微小的样本提供精确的结果。

Piazzoli说“我们的确在拿破仑的头发中发现了高含量的砷。但我们在他儿子和妻子的头发中也发现了相同的含量。基本上来讲，所有这些200年前的头发样本中的砷含量是如今人们头发中的含量的100倍。”

这表明在19世纪初，当时生活环境中含有如今会被认为是非常危险的高含量的砷。

Piazzoli还说“拿破仑在他少年期与他在圣赫勒拿岛弥留之际头发中的砷含量没有显著不同。这清楚表明拿破仑头发中的高含量砷并非源于被投毒，相反，这是不断从周围环境中吸收的结果。”

根据意大利国家核物理学院的Ezio Previtali的说法，“发现200年前人们暴露于砷的机会是现如今的100倍是这个研究中最发人深醒的方面。”他告诉共和国日报说“我相信这个研究确立了新的观点，但我确信会有更多的关于拿破仑死因的研究，因为这个人物仍然令人着迷。”

在2007年在《自然临床胃肠和肝病病理学》杂志中发表的关于拿破仑死因的最新研究中，历史记录和现代病理和肿瘤方法被做了比较，最后指出死因是晚期胃癌。

2005年瑞士的一项对12条拿破仑在1800年至1821年间穿过的裤子的研究也支持了胃癌的诊断。这些裤子显示在他生命中最后的六个月中，拿破仑的身体急剧削瘦，腰部以下痿缩了近5英寸而且瘦了24磅，体重的减轻也符合胃癌的症状。