Date: 11/21/2005

The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San José State University announced that two fragments of Beethoven's skull, which were kept back when his remains were exhumed in 1863 to preserve them in a new coffin, have been located in California and are now on long-term loan to the Center. The skull fragments have been in the possession of the Seligmann-Kaufmann family since 1863. Danville residents Paul and Joan Kaufmann, who inherited the fragments from a relative, have been working with the director of the Beethoven Center, William Meredith, since 1999 to authenticate the fragments and undertake DNA and other scientific testing. Meredith noted that the discovery of Beethoven's skull fragments in California only 40 miles from the Beethoven Center "is another extraordinary development in the already remarkable story of the history of the fragments." There has been international press interest in this discovery. See Beethoven.