Joseph-Ignace Guillotin

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (May 28, 1738 – March 26, 1814) proposed on October 10, 1789 the use of a mechanical device to carry out death penalties in France. While he did not invent the guillotine, his name became an eponym for it.

From 1756 until 1762 Guillotin got his formation as Master of Arts as a member of the Jesuit order. He became professor of literature at Irish College in Bordeaux, but subsequently decided to leave the Society of Jesus and to become a physician. He studied medicine at Reims and the University of Paris and graduated from the university in 1770.

In 1784 the French government appointed him, along with Benjamin Franklin and others, to investigate the "animal magnetism" put forth by Franz Mesmer. In 1789 he became a deputy of Paris in the Assemblée Constituante. It is in this position that he proposed the guillotine to the Legislative Assembly.

Despite this proposal, Guillotin was opposed to the death penalty. He 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 the 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. Dr. Guillotin assumed that if a fair system was established where the only method of Capital Punishment was death by mechanical decapitation, then the public would feel far more appreciative of their rights.

Contrary to popular belief, Guillotin did not die on the machine given his name, but rather from a left shoulder carbuncle.

According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable the unfortunate of the same name who died by the guillotine was J.M.V. Guillotin, a doctor of Lyons

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