Napoleon Murdered

Arsenic is one of the oldest and best known of poisons. It is so well known, in fact, that when the wonderful Frank Capra comedy Arsenic and Old Lace was released, everyone knew that it was going to be a murder mystery in which someone would be poisoned. In fact, it has even been rumoured that Napoleon died from arsenic poisoning, the arsenic coming from the green dye on his wallpaper. We deduce that even a small amount of arsenic will cause death, or at least an unpleasant and lingering illness. 

These findings do not imply poisoning by any means. There is no dramatic difference between the arsenic contents of the hairs of Napoleon and his son. Historical records show that Napoleon 11 died of tuberculosis, and there was no reason to suspect poisoning, let alone murder with arsenic. Even more revealing is the fact that hairs from Napoleon himself at the age of 1 already contained high amounts of arsenic compared to today s average values. Napoleon could not have been poisoned on Saint Helena—at least not with arsenic. Had this actually happened, hairs form Saint Helena would show a much higher arsenic content than earlier ones. 

Napoleon Bonaparte died in captivity on the island St Helena in 1821. The doctors did not agree about the cause of death. Was it poisoning There is no doubt that the cause was in fact arsenic poisoning, but that does not necessarily imply murder. After Napoleon s death, his hair was tested. The arsenic content was determined to be... 

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