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 †
Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895), British politician, father of British PM Winston Churchill
Frederick Delius (1862–1934), composer †
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848), composer
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), painter †
Theo van Gogh (1857–1891), art dealer †
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), painter S
Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), poet †
Henry VIII (1491–1547), king of England S
Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584), Czar of Russia
Scott Joplin (1867/8–1917), composer †
Kostas Karyotakis (1896–1928), Greek poet
Eduard von Keyserling (1855-1918), writer †
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924), politician S
William Lobb (1809–1864), plant collector S
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
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
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), writer S
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), writer †
Hugo Wolf (1860–1903), composer †
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), politician S