Question for discussion "Who was Elise?"

I checked Google, and there are a couple theories, but it seems that no one knows for sure. I also learned that no one even knew that the piece existed until 40 years after Beethoven's death, and that the musicologist who claimed to have discovered the score subsequently claimed to lose it.

It's easy to imagine that Beethoven might have written the song piece for a romantic interest, and kept it private out of embarrassment. If so, it's nice to know that even genius composers harbor their own insecurities.

My favorite theory was that he wrote it for Elisabeth Roeckel.