“Let the muse of history be silent, and make way for genetics.” Jean Tulard“Fascinating.” Jean-Noël Fabiani, Professor Emeritus, Chair of the History of MedicineUntil recent years, many mysteries and rumors have surrounded Napoleon. Was Napoleon''s body taken by the British and placed in Westminster Abbey? Was he poisoned with arsenic? Did he die of hereditary stomach cancer, as the English claimed, or of hepatitis and dysentery rampant on that unhealthy island? Was Napoleon III descended from the Emperor? Did the Emperor''s physician remove Napoleon''s penis after his death on St. Helena in 1821?To answer these and many other questions, Professor Gérard Lucotte spent twelve years working on this subject. He was commissioned by Prince Charles Napoléon (a descendant of the Emperor, through the branch descended from Jérôme Bonaparte, the Emperor''s youngest brother) and Count Walewski (a descendant of Napoleon the First’s natural son) to work on Napoléon''s DNA. Thanks to his genetics laboratory and electron microscope, he has achieved a gigantic feat that will astound all Napoleon enthusiasts.
