René Descartes: The Suspected Poisoning and the Skull Split from History
On 11 February 1650, René Descartes died in Stockholm after several months working for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was only 53. The royal household and its doctors announced pneumonia. But medical letters written close to the event describe a different course. In 2019, philosopher Theodor Ebert reread letters by Descartes’s servant Henri Schluter, physician Johann van Wullen, ambassador Pierre Chanut, and biographe
On 11 February 1650, René Descartes died in Stockholm after several months working for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was only 53. The royal household and its doctors announced pneumonia. But medical letters written close to the event describe a different course. In 2019, philosopher Theodor Ebert reread letters by Descartes’s servant Henri Schluter, physician Johann van Wullen, ambassador Pierre Chanut, and biographer Adrien Baillet. He concluded that Descartes had a high probability of being poisoned with arsenic on 2 and 8 February, with the second exposure possibly fatal.
On 11 February 1650, René Descartes died in Stockholm after several months working for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was only 53. The royal household and its doctors announced pneumonia. But medical letters written close to the event describe a different course. In 2019, philosopher Theodor Ebert reread letters by Descartes’s servant Henri Schluter, physician Johann van Wullen, ambassador Pierre Chanut, and biographe
On 11 February 1650, René Descartes died in Stockholm after several months working for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was only 53. The royal household and its doctors announced pneumonia. But medical letters written close to the event describe a different course. In 2019, philosopher Theodor Ebert reread letters by Descartes’s servant Henri Schluter, physician Johann van Wullen, ambassador Pierre Chanut, and biographe
On 11 February 1650, René Descartes died in Stockholm after several months working for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was only 53. The royal household and its doctors announced pneumonia. But medical letters written close to the event describe a different course. In 2019, philosopher Theodor Ebert reread letters by Descartes’s servant Henri Schluter, physician Johann van Wullen, ambassador Pierre Chanut, and biographe
On 11 February 1650, René Descartes died in Stockholm after several months working for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was only 53. The royal household and its doctors announced pneumonia. But medical letters written close to the event describe a different course. In 2019, philosopher Theodor Ebert reread letters by Descartes’s servant Henri Schluter, physician Johann van Wullen, ambassador Pierre Chanut, and biographe