Decades-long mummy mystery linked to Boris Johnson

Decades-long mummy mystery linked to Boris Johnson
By Euronews
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A centuries-old mummified body has been linked to the UK Foreign Minister.

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A decades-old mystery about a centuries-old mummified body has finally been solved by scientists in Switzerland.

DNA testing on the body's big toe uncovered that the female remains belong to none other than a long-dead descendant of UK Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson.

Anna Catharina Bischoff died in the 16th-century, but her body was only discovered in 1975 in front of the altar in a church in Basel.

Rosemary Brobst-Rhyner is another of her descendants.

"I had to get used to it, at the beginning it was a shock. It took some to realise its importance", she said. While little is known about Anna's life, her body dressed in good quality clothes and riddled with mercury, which was a standard treatment for syphilis from the 15th century onwards.

"It’s very rare to find out more about someone of whom we had little information at all. No gravestone was found, however, only the wealthy were buried inside the church. Johnson has yet to comment on the discovery.

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