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The third point of Warren Boroson’s “Seven surprising facts” (Oct. 28) is no fact at all. Leaked to the London press in January 2009, it is a baseless rumour that Mendelssohn proposed in 1847 to elope with Jenny Lind to America. New research by the Brussels-based association Icons of Europe, posted online at iconsofeurope.com, shows that: (a) no evidence has been provided to support the rumour; (b) Jenny Lind’s widower Otto Goldschmidt manipulated the translation of a letter in the 1891 English-language Memoir of his late wife to convey the false impression of an affair between her and Mendelssohn (to hide her secret engagement to somebody else); and (c) a Jenny Lind letter currently copied on the website of the Royal Academy of Music, London appears to be fabricated by Goldschmidt for the same deceitful purpose. Ironically, the article talks about “bilious efforts to … disdain Mendelssohn”, which indeed must be rooted out in order to protect the cultural heritage of Europe and the bridge it provides to the United States.