List of syphilis cases

Mental illness caused by late-stage syphilis was once a common form of dementia. This was known as the general paresis of the insane. The list below contains a representative listing of famous historical figures diagnosed with or strongly suspected (marked "S") as having had syphilis at some time. Many people who acquired syphilis were treated and recovered; died from it (marked "†").

Many famous historical figures, including Charles VIII of France, Hernán Cortés of Spain, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Ivan the Terrible, were often alleged to have had syphilis or other sexually transmitted infections. Sometimes these allegations were false and formed part of a political whispering campaign. In other instances, retrospective diagnoses of suspected cases have been made in modern times.

Keys: S—suspected case; †—died of syphilis


 * Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet †
 * Maurice Barrymore (1849–1905) actor †
 * John Batman (1801–1839), founder of Melbourne †
 * Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), poet †
 * Karen Blixen (1885–1962), writer
 * Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage (1765–1805), poet †
 * Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), emperor of France S
 * Cesare Borgia (1475–1507), Duke of Valentinois and son of Pope Alexander VI
 * António Botto (1897–1959), poet
 * Camilo Castelo Branco (1825–1890), writer
 * Beau Brummell (1778–1840), fashion arbiter
 * Al Capone (1899–1947), gangster †
 * Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798), adventurer and author
 * Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895), British politician, father of British PM Winston Churchill
 * Frederick Delius (1862–1934), composer †
 * Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848), composer
 * Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), writer
 * Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), painter †
 * Theo van Gogh (1857–1891), art dealer †
 * Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), painter S
 * Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), poet †
 * Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), S
 * Howard Hughes (1905-1976), businessman, aviator and film maker


 * Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584), Czar of Russia
 * Scott Joplin (1867/8–1917), composer †
 * James Joyce (1882–1941), author
 * Kostas Karyotakis (1896–1928), Greek poet
 * Eduard von Keyserling (1855-1918), writer †
 * Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), Russian revolutionary S
 * William Lobb (1809–1864), plant collector S
 * Jean Lorrain (1855-1906), writer
 * Édouard Manet (1832–1883), painter †
 * Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893), writer †
 * Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), philosopher S
 * Jack Pickford (1896–1933), actor †
 * Harry Nelson Pillsbury (1872–1906), chess master †
 * Martin Alonso Pinzon (1441–1493) captain of Pinta †
 * Eugen Sandow (1867–1925), bodybuilder S
 * Franz Schubert (1797–1828), composer S
 * Robert Schumann (1810–1856), composer S
 * Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884), composer †
 * Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1545–1567), second husband of Mary Queen of Scots
 * Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), writer S
 * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), painter †
 * Mikhail Vrubel (1856–1910), painter
 * George Walker (1872/1873–1911), comedian/entertainer †
 * Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), writer S
 * John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), writer †
 * Hugo Wolf (1860–1903), composer †