Nicolo Paganini of Genoa [Italy] (1782-1840), the greatest violin virtuoso of all time, owed his incomparable violin virtuosity to a fortuitous and fortunate coincidence of 3 factors: a soaring musical genius, a flair for the dramatic and ostentatious, and manual dexterity conferred by being born with the long fingers and hyperextensible joints of Marfan''s syndrome. Ordinarily an inborn connective tissue disorder is a calamity for the patient and a burden for society. In this particular instance Marfan''s syndrome bequeathed to posterity a legacy that will ennoble the human spirit for innumerable generations yet to come.