List of syphilis cases

Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse by Rembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1665–67, oil on canvas. De Lairesse, himself a painter and art theorist, suffered from congenital syphilis that severely deformed his face and eventually blinded him.

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

• Karen Blixen (1885–1962), writer
• Frederick Delius (1862–1934), composer †
• Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), S
• Idi Amin
• Eugen Sandow (1867–1925), bodybuilder S
• Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), writer S