Archaeology and Heinrich Schliemann 2012

The operation and death of Henry Schliemann 483for the exostoses which prevailed on both sides inthe auditory canal may have been the frequentbathing and swimming at cold temperaturesrather than otorrhea. The postoperative treatmentof the ear in those days was quite drawn out; asfar as I remember - as the records are no longeravailable - there existed a cholesteatoma whichmay also be assumed considering the death of thepatient. The treatment was not completed.Schwartze irrigated the ears daily with a 2% carbolicacid solution to evacuate the discharge. Heinserted a rubber drainage and a lead pin. Thepatient urged to be dismissed because he wantedto be with his family at Christmas. He left the clinicprematurely and died in Naples on December26, 1890 of a meningitis with hemiplegia on theright side and aphasia. It appears that a brainabsess in the temporal lobe had developed as aconsequence of the cholesteatoma. This abscesshad not shown any symptoms in Halle. Only thestress resulting from the travel of the not yet recoveredpatient brought about the rapid end”.In view of Schliemann’s intense postoperativepain, and his progressive decline and death 16 daysafter he left the hospital, one can therefore project hisfinal illness as chronic otitis media with cholesteatomabecoming activated by the operative trauma or perhapsthe introduction of a virulent organism into themastoid. The process proceeded to a localized meningitisand extradural abscess and continued into a temporallobe abscess.The minimal symptoms of the quiescent stage ofSchliemann’s cerebral complication allowed him toleave the hospital and proceed to Berlin, to Paris andto Naples. The absence of the generalized signs of anexpanding brain abscess can be accounted for bySchliemann’s stoic personality and the lack of a witnessor reporter of his complaints. The focal signs ofSchliemann’s brain abscess are characteristic: completeaphasia and right-sided-paralysis.Thus ends the extraordinary story of Henry Schliemann,a man with an unquenchable thirst for fameand recognition, whose innate talents and egotismallowed him to fulfill his childhood ambition andadult dreams. From a number of bibliographicsources I have tried to reconstruct the nature ofSchliemann’s ear problem, to account for his years ofrecurrent pain, his operation and his subsequentdeath. Fortuitously a last minute letter from ProfessorJakobi, who had read Professors Schwartze’s operativenotes, confirmed the projected details of Schliemann’sotologic story.REFERENCESLilly, E., 1961. Schliemann in Indianapolis, Indianapolis:Indiana Historical Society.Ludwig, E., 1931. Schliemann: the Story of a Gold-Seeker,Boston, Mass.: Little Brown and Company.Meyer, E., 1969. Heinrich Schliemann: Kaufmann undForscher, Göttingen: Musterschmidt-Verlag.Payne, R., 1959. The Gold of Troy: the Story of HeinrichSchliemann and the Buried Cities of Ancient Greece,New York: Funk and Wagnalls.Poole, L. and Poole, G., 1966. One Passion, Two Loves: theStory of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann, Discoverersof Troy, New York: Crowell.