A leading vitamin D researcher is speculating that vitamin D deficiency contributed to the death of one of the world’s greatest musicians in 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It’s a theory that he’s published in a letter in an academic journal and is getting some attention.

“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart suffered from many infectious illnesses including catarrh, fever, sore throat, and bad colds from 1762 to 1791, the year of his death at 35 years of age,” Dr. William Grant, founder of the vitamin D advocacy group SUNARC said in a press statement last week promoting the publication of his letter. “Most of these illnesses occurred between mid-October and May. At the latitude of Salzburg and Vienna, 48º N, it is impossible to make vitamin D from solar ultraviolet-B irradiance for about six months of the year.”

All of those illnesses are now believed to be more common in those who are vitamin D deficient. Mozart did much of his composing at night, so would have slept during much of the day — meaning he most likely made very little vitamin D at all, Grant points out.

To read Grant’s paper on-line click here.