Swiss church mummy ‘is Boris Johnson’s ancestor’
Corpse found in Basel church identified as politician’s seven-times-great grandmother

Boris Johnson has been accused of being a fossil and a dinosaur in his time, but he’s never drawn comparisons with a mummy. But now DNA testing has revealed that a mummified body found beneath a Swiss church is the Foreign Secretary’s seven-times-great-grandmother.
The corpse was uncovered during construction work at the Barfusser church in Basel in 1975, in an unusually well-preserved state due to the body’s high levels of mercury, once commonly used to treat syphilis.
The mystery of the “Lady of Barfusser church”, Switzerland’s best-known mummy, has puzzled local historians for more than 40 years, the Basler Zeitung reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scientific analysis dated the coffin to the 16th century, when Basel was “a wealthy trading city” on the busy Rhine shipping route, says the BBC.
However, the identity of the woman within seemed lost to history until recently discovered archives revealed that the mummy had actually been unearthed before, in 1843.
Details in those records led researchers to suspects that the spot where the body was found was the final resting place of Anna Catharina Bischoff, a Basel gentlewoman who died in 1787.
The lead opened the door to the possibilities of DNA testing. Genetic material extracted from the big toe of the mummy was compared to DNA donated by modern members of the Bischoff family.
The DNA was a 99.8% match, leading historians to identify the body as that of Bischoff.
A clergyman’s wife, she “may have contracted syphilis while caring for patients with the sexually transmitted disease”, says the BBC - which would explain the presence of the mercury that preserved her body.
Her daughter, also named Anna, married into the Von Pfeffel family, whose heritage is evident in the Foreign Secretary’s full name: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.
The connection makes Anna Bischoff the great-great-great-great-great-great-great- grandmother of the politician, through his father, Stanley Johnson.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - March 30, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - strawberry fields forever, secret files, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilariously sparse cartoons about further DOGE cuts
Cartoons Artists take on free audits, report cards, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson Published
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published