Joseph-Ignace Guillotin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (Musée Carnavalet, Paris)
Born	(1738-05-28)28 May 1738 Saintes, France
Died	26 March 1814(1814-03-26) (aged 75) Paris, France
Resting place	Père Lachaise Cemetery
Nationality	French
Education	Irish College, Bordeaux Reims University University of Paris
Occupation	Physician
Known for	Proposing a painless method for executions, inspiring the guillotine

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (born May 28, 1738 – died March 26, 1814) was a French physician and politician. He is known for suggesting a new way to carry out executions in France. On October 10, 1789, he proposed using a special machine. His goal was to make executions less painful than the methods used at the time.

Even though he did not invent the guillotine, and he was actually against the death penalty, his name became linked to the machine. The first version of the guillotine was actually created by Tobias Schmidt. He worked with the king's doctor, Antoine Louis, to design it.

Early Life and Education

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was born on May 28, 1738. His birthplace was Saintes, a town in France. He was the second son of Joseph-Alexandre Guillotin and Catherine Agatha Martin.

Guillotin first studied with the Jesuits in Bordeaux. In December 1761, he earned a Master of Arts degree. This was from the College of Aquitaine at the University of Bordeaux. His essay for the degree was so good that the Jesuits asked him to teach literature. He taught at the Irish College in Bordeaux for a few years.

Later, he moved to Paris to study medicine. He became a student of a famous doctor named Antoine Petit. In 1768, he received a diploma from the faculty at Reims. Then, in 1770, he earned his doctorate from the School of Medicine in Paris. This degree also gave him the title of Doctor-Regent. This meant he was allowed to teach medicine in Paris.

Medical and Political Career

In Paris, Guillotin became a well-known doctor. By 1775, he was thinking about how criminals were treated. He wrote a paper suggesting that criminals could be used in medical experiments. He thought this was better than being put to death.

In 1784, a man named Franz Mesmer started talking about "animal magnetism". Many people found this idea strange. King Louis XVI asked a group of experts to look into it. Guillotin was chosen to be part of this group. Other famous members included Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier. The group decided Mesmer's ideas were not real. This made Guillotin more famous in public.

Entering Politics and the Guillotine Idea

In December 1788, Guillotin wrote a paper called Petition of the Citizens Living in Paris. It was about how the Estates-General (a kind of parliament) should be set up. The French parliament tried to stop his paper. They called him to explain his ideas. But many people supported him during his speech. He was set free, and this made him even more popular.

On May 2, 1789, he became one of 10 representatives from Paris. He joined the Estates-General of 1789. From June 1789 to October 1791, he served as the secretary for this group. On June 20, 1789, the members, now calling themselves the National Assembly, found their meeting hall locked. Guillotin suggested they meet in a nearby indoor tennis court. There, they took the Tennis Court Oath. They promised to stay together until a new constitution for the country was written.

As a member of the assembly, Guillotin first focused on improving medical care. He was part of the Poverty Committee. He visited the Hôtel-Dieu hospital. He helped write a report that showed how unhealthy the conditions were there. He also became the first head of the Health Committee. In 1791, he proposed a plan for medical reform.

At the same time, he also cared about changing criminal laws. His work as a doctor made him against capital punishment. At first, he tried to get rid of it completely, but he was not successful. Back then, beheading in France was usually done with an axe or sword. This did not always cause a quick death. Also, beheading was only for rich people. Common people were usually hanged, which could take a long time. Other methods were even worse.

Guillotin realized that if he could not stop executions, he could at least make them more humane.

On October 10, 1789, he suggested a new method. He proposed that "the criminal shall be decapitated. This will be done only by a simple machine." This "machine" was described as one that "beheads painlessly." His idea was published in a newspaper.

In total, Guillotin suggested six main points:

• All punishments for the same crime should be the same for everyone. This meant no special treatment for rich people.
• If someone is sentenced to death, it should be by beheading. This would be done by a machine.
• The family of the person punished should not face any legal problems.
• It would be against the law to shame a family because of a relative's punishment.
• The property of the person found guilty should not be taken away.
• The bodies of those executed should be given back to their families if they ask for them.

Even with these ideas, Guillotin was against the death penalty. He hoped that a more humane and less painful way of execution would be the first step. He wanted to eventually get rid of capital punishment completely. He also hoped that a quick-killing machine would make crowds less excited about executions.

On December 1, 1789, Guillotin gave another speech about capital punishment. He was quoted as saying, "Now, with my machine, I cut off your head in the twinkling of an eye, and you never feel it!" This statement quickly became a popular joke. A few days later, a funny song about Guillotin and "his" machine spread around. This forever linked his name to it. This happened even though he had nothing to do with designing or building the machine.

His ideas became law on March 20, 1792. Meanwhile, the Assembly had asked Antoine Louis to build such a device. His design was shown on March 17. The first executions using it happened on April 25, 1792. By October 1791, Guillotin had already left the Assembly. He went back to working as a doctor. During a time called the Reign of Terror, he moved to Arras. He became the director of the military hospital there. He returned to Paris a year later.

Near the end of the Reign of Terror, a letter meant for Guillotin was found. It was from a man who was about to be executed. In the letter, the man asked Guillotin to look after his wife and children. The authorities demanded that Guillotin tell them where the family was. Guillotin either could not or would not give the information. So, he was arrested and put in prison. He was set free in a general pardon on July 27, 1794. This happened after Robespierre lost power.

In November 1795, a letter was published in a newspaper. It claimed that people survived for several minutes after being beheaded by the guillotine. Guillotin was very upset by this. For the rest of his life, he was sad that the machine was named after him. He kept trying to end the death penalty. But many people believed he supported it because he had suggested the machine.

Return to Medicine

Guillotin was one of the first French doctors to support Edward Jenner's discovery. Jenner found a way to prevent smallpox using vaccination. In 1805, Guillotin was the chairman of the Central Vaccination Committee in Paris. He also helped start one of the groups that later became the National Academy of Medicine.

Personal Life

Family and Death

Being linked to the guillotine was very embarrassing for Guillotin's family. They asked the French government to change the machine's name. When the government said no, the family decided to change their own last name instead.

By chance, another person named Guillotin was actually executed by the guillotine. This was J.M.V. Guillotin, a doctor from Lyon. This coincidence might have led to false stories that Joseph-Ignace Guillotin himself was killed by the machine. However, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin actually died at home in Paris in 1814. He was 75 years old and died of natural causes, specifically from a skin infection. He is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. He was married to Louise Saugrain. She was the sister of a doctor and chemist named Antoine Saugrain.

Freemasonry

Joseph Guillotin became a Freemason in 1765. He joined the "La Parfaite Union" lodge in Angoulême. He was very active as a mason and joined several other lodges. From 1772, he was a representative of the Grand Lodge. He helped create the Grand Orient of France. He attended all its meetings until 1790. In 1773, he became the leader of the "La Concorde Fraternelle" lodge in Paris. In 1776, he started the "La Vérité" lodge. He often attended meetings at Les Neuf Sœurs.

In Modern Stories

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin appears in some modern books and TV shows. He is a character in Andrew Miller's novel Pure. He is also a main character in the 1992 book Dr Guillotine, written by actor Herbert Lom. He is also the main character in the French TV series La Révolution.

See also

In Spanish: Joseph Ignace Guillotin para niños

• Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism