Joseph-Ignace Guillotin | |
|---|---|
,_m%C3%A9decin_et_homme_politique._-_P1052_-_Mus%C3%A9e_Carnavalet_(cropped).jpg) Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (Musée Carnavalet, Paris) | |
| Born | 28 May 1738 Saintes, France |
| Died | 26 March 1814 (aged 75) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery |
| 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 (French: [ʒozɛf iɲas ɡijɔtɛ̃]; 28 May 1738 – 26 March 1814) was a French physician, politician, and freemason who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out executions in France, as a less painful method of execution than existing methods. Although he did not invent the guillotine and opposed the death penalty, his name became an eponym for it. The actual inventor of the prototype was a man named Tobias Schmidt, working with the king's physician, Antoine Louis.