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Copernicus Had Blue Eyes

Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

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Kept at the Museum Gustavianum at Uppsala University, the book was owned by Copernicus for decades. Scattered within the pages, there were 9 hair samples. The researchers found sequence data of mitochondrial DNA -- which is passed intact from mother to child -- on four of the hair samples.

"Of these, two were identical to each other and to the profile from the skeletal remains recovered from the St. Cross Altar tomb," Marie Allen, a genetic expert at Uppsala University, told Discovery News.

The researchers concluded that the "skeletal remains derived from the St. Cross Altar tomb at Frombork Cathedral are those of the great Polish astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus."

The genetic analysis also found a variation in a gene called HERC2, which is usually found in people with blue eyes and is very common in Northern Europe.

Recent studies have shown that this HERC2 variant is also associated with lighter hair color and lighter skin.

"Indeed, Copernicus most probably had blue eyes and should also have lighter skin and hair color," Wojciech Branicki, at the Institute of Forensic Research in Krakow, Poland, told Discovery News.

The finding is rather unexpected, since the great astronomer is usually portrayed with dark eyes.

According to the researchers, a possible explanation for this discrepancy is that contemporary portraits of Copernicus were often made using a chalcography technique, which does not reflect actual colors.

"Thus, it is possible that the initial impression of dark eye color created by a faulty technique color could have been replicated by other artists," the researchers concluded.

Discovery News: History

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