Christen Scheels død i Sankt Petersborg 1771. Dementi af et formodet giftmord

Resumé

The demise of Christen Scheel at St. Petersburg in 1771 – not by poisoning
In 1771, the 28-year-old Danish ambassador at the Russian court in St. Petersburg, Count Christen Scheel, suddenly died in the midst of important negotiations with Empress Catherine the Great, concerning the so-called Mageskiftetraktat, the exchange of the Gottorp parts of the duchy of Holstein for the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. The unexpected death gave birth to rumors: was it a case of poisoning for political reasons, or because of jealousy on the part of a lover of the empress? While critical of these rumors, historians have not denied them definitively. Fortunately, Count Scheel’s doctor, H. Bacheract, conducted a post mortem. A thorough medical examination of this post mortem proves beyond reasonable doubt that Scheel died of a kidney disease that had developed as consequence of several upper respiratory tract infections. Furthermore, the post-mortem examination reveals changes in the liver consistent with liver cancer.