A retired physician claims to have evidence that Napoleon Bonaparte was not poisoned by his enemies, but died due to kidney complications

Arne W. S. Sørensen, one of the country’s leading nephrologists, believes the French emperor died due to his lifelong kidney problems. The argument and evidence is outlined in Sørensen’s new book, ‘Napoleons nyrer’ (‘Napoleon’s Kidneys’), which was released on Monday.

A Napoleon buff for decades, Sørensen argues that the emperor battled kidney problems his entire life, even during his childhood. Sørensen refers to numerous documents - including Bonaparte’s own diary and statements from his mother - as proof of this.

Sørensen also attributes Napoleon’s notorious temper to his kidney problems. It is said that the emperor was often forced to lean up against army cannons for up to thirty minutes trying to urinate. The pain Napoleon must have experienced from the kidney failure must have been excruciating, argues Sørensen.

Sørensen also asserts that Napoleon’s gradual weight gain can be attributed to his illness.

But there’s no question Napoleon was saturated with arsenic as others have proven, according to Sørensen. US scientists recently claimed to have proven that Napoleon died of arsenic poisoning, as high traces of the substance were found in his hair.

But Sørensen writes that the substance was found in many items in those days - especially in the tapestries that Napoleon had hanging at his many residences. A hair sample taken in 1802, nineteen years prior to Napoleon’s death, already showed the emperor had large quantities of arsenic in his body.

‘If there’s any dampness in the room, the fumes released from the tapestry can be highly toxic,’ said Stig Thornsohn, the book’s editor and Sørensen’s son-in-law, to The Copenhagen Post. ‘Arsenic was also present in the medicine he was taking for his illness.’

Thornsohn pointed out that the kidney is supposed to clean substances from urine going to the bladder. However, if there is kidney failure, then the poison builds up in the bladder, and that’s how Napoleon was really poisoned, according to Sørensen’s theories.

In his book, Sørensen cites four different autopsy reports. He claims that the original attending physician refused to sign the first report because he felt he was being pressured to falsify it.

‘Health problems directly and indirectly influenced the outcome of many of Napoleon’s decisions - including many of his military dispositions,’ said Thornsohn.

Thornsohn said his company is working on getting the book released in an English translation. He said he also plans to send a copy to John Curran, who is set to direct a children’s film on Napoleon with Al Pacino in the starring role.