SCIENTISTS IN SWITZERLAND say that a mummified corpse uncovered in the city of Basel is directly related to current UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
The BBC reports that the body was uncovered in 1975 while renovations were being carried out on the city’s Barfüsser Church.
Initial testing of the woman’s coffin suggested it dated from the 16th Century, the BBC’s report said.
The woman was buried at the front of the altar. She was wearing good quality clothes and was obviously wealthy.
Swiss broadcaster SRF is airing a documentary on efforts to identify the body this week.
Scientists, after examining records, set out to establish whether the woman was related to the Bischoff family. According to the channel, a DNA sample was taken and compared to living descendants of that line.
They now believe the remains are those of Anna Catharina Bischoff – a pastor’s wife, who lived from 1719 to 1787.
She was Johnson’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother.
Researchers learnt from archives that she died from syphilis. Traces of mercury – a standard treatment for syphilis at the time – were found in the the mummified body.
Johnson once told the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are that he was “the product of many countries” – and that he thought he was part Jewish, part French, part English, part American and part Turkish.
According to the episode page for Johnson’s appearance on the show:
Boris’ half-French grandmother, ‘Granny Butter’, had always claimed to be of posh stock. Although Boris and his siblings have always been suspicious of this claim, they do recall their grandmother teaching them to eat crisps with a knife and fork.
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