An 18th Century mummy that was dug up is related to Boris Johnson and everyone is making the same joke

In news that you definitely didn't expect to read this week, a mummified corpse found in Switzerland which died of syphilis is a distant relative of Boris Johnson.

The female mummy, which was discovered underneath the Barfusser Church in Basel in 1975, is believed to be the great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother of the Foreign Secretary.

The BBC report that she is believed to have died at some point in the 16 century from the STD, which was treated with mercury at the time - this often did more damage than good, because... mercury.

After extensive research into the history of the corpse, it is believed she was part of the Bischoff family, one of the most established families in Basel during that period.

The corpse is said to belong to Anna Catharina Bischoff and generations later one of her future relatives Yvonne would give birth to Stanley Johnson, who is the father of Boris.

The Conservative MP was delighted to hear this news and championed his relatives history as a sexual health pioneer.

People couldn't wait to make jokes on Twitter.

While it is fun to make jokes, very smart individuals like Stephen Fry and Adam Bienkov were quick to point out that Johnson will be one of just thousands of relatives of the corpse - so be mindful of who you are mocking.

HT IFL Science

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