- Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
Infobox Person
name = Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
image_size =
caption = "Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin" (Musée Carnavalet ,Paris
birth_name =
birth_date =May 28 1738
birth_place =Saintes ,France
death_date =March 26 1814
death_place =
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resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = French
other_names =
known_for = Proposing the use of theguillotine for executions
education =Irish College ,Bordeaux University of Reims University of Paris
employer =
occupation =Physician
spouse =
partner =
children =Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (IPA2|ɡijɔtɛ̃;
May 28 ,1738 –March 26 ,1814 ) was a Frenchphysician who proposed onOctober 10 ,1789 the use of a mechanical device to carry out death penalties inFrance . While he did not invent theguillotine , his name became aneponym for it.Biography
Guillotin composed an essay to obtain the degree of master of arts from the
University of Bordeaux . This essay impressed theJesuit s so much that they persuaded him to enter their order and he was appointed a professor of literature at theIrish College at Bordeaux. He left however after a few years and travelled toParis to study medicine, becoming a pupil ofAntoine Petit . He gained a diploma from the faculty atRheims in 1768 and later won a prize given by the Paris faculty, the title of Doctor-Regent.In 1784, when
Franz Mesmer began to publicize his theory of "animal magnetism ", which was considered offensive by many,Louis XVI appointed a commission to investigate it and Guillotin was appointed as a member of it along withBenjamin Franklin and others.In December 1788 Guillotin drafted a pamphlet entitled "Petition of the Citizens Living in Paris", concerning the proper constitution of the States-General. As a result he was summoned by the French parliament to give an account of his opinions, which served to increase his popularity and on
May 2 1789 he became one of 10Paris deputies in the "Assemblée Constituante", and was secretary to the assembly from June 1789 to October 1791.As a member of the assembly Guillotin mainly directed his attention towards medical reform, and it was on
October 10 1789 , during a debate oncapital punishment , that he proposed that "the criminal shall be decapitated; this will be done solely by means of a simple mechanism." The "mechanism" was defined as "a machine that beheads painlessly".Despite this proposal, Guillotin was opposed to the death penalty and hoped that a more humane and less painful method of
execution would be the first step toward a total abolition of the death penalty. He also hoped that fewer families and children would witness executions, and vowed to make them more private and individualized. It was also his belief that a standard death penalty by decapitation would prevent the cruel and unjust system of the day. At that time, it was customary for the wealthy and the nobility to arrange for their families to pay the executioner to guarantee a quick death. The lower classes, however, were often decapitated in several blows with a very dull sword or axe, or were executed by methods such as quartering or hanging. Dr. Guillotin assumed that if a fair system was established where the only method ofCapital Punishment was death by mechanicaldecapitation , then the public would feel far more appreciative of their rights.A few days after the debate, a comic song about Guillotin and his proposal appeared in the Royalist periodical,
Actes des Apôtres , which is considered to be the reason Dr. Guillotin's name became associated with the machine. [cite journal | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Dr Guillotin | journal = Chambers's Edinburgh Journal | volume = I | issue = | pages = pp. 218–221 | publisher = | location = | date = January - June 1844 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LLQCAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PA218 | doi = | id = | accessdate = 2008-09-03]Towards the end of
The Terror , Guillotin was arrested and imprisoned because of a letter fromCount Mere , who, about to be executed, commended his wife and children to the care of the doctor. He was freed from prison in 1794 afterRobespierre fell from power and abandoned his political career to resume the medical profession.Guillotin became one of the first French doctors to support
Edward Jenner 's discovery ofvaccination and in 1805 was the President of the Committee for Vaccination in Paris. He was also one of the founders of theAcademy of Medicine of Paris.Trivia
* The association with the guillotine so embarrassed Dr. Guillotin's family that they petitioned the French government to rename it; when the government refused, they instead changed their own family name.
* According toBrewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable a person named Guillotin was indeed executed by the guillotine - he was J.M.V. Guillotin, a doctor ofLyons . [cite book | last = Brewer | first = Ebenezer Cobham | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | publisher =Harper & Row | date = 1970 | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ]Notes
References
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