1. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin gained a diploma from the faculty at Reims in 1768 and his doctorate at the School of Medicine in Paris in 1770, which gave him the title of Doctor-Regent.
19 Facts About Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
1. 2.
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 Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was appointed a member, along with Jean Sylvain Bailly, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, Antoine Lavoisier, and Benjamin Franklin.
3.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin suggested they reconvene in a nearby jeu de paume court, where the members swore the Tennis Court Oath, vowing "not to separate and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the Constitution of the kingdom is established".
4.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin became first chair of the Health Committee and submitted a bill for medical reform in 1791.
5.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin realised that, if he could not eliminate executions, he could at least make them more humane.
6.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin's proposal appeared in the Royalist periodical, Les Actes des Apotres.
7.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin assumed that, if a fair system was established where the only method of capital punishment was by mechanical decapitation, then the public would feel more appreciative of their rights.
8.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin hoped that, as the decapitation machine would kill quickly without prolonged suffering, this would reduce the size and enthusiasm of crowds that often witnessed executions.
9.
Towards the end of the Reign of Terror, a letter from the Comte de Mere to Joseph-Ignace Guillotin fell into the hands of the public prosecutor, Fouquier-Tinville in which the Count, who was to be executed, commended his wife and children to Joseph-Ignace Guillotin's care.
10.
The authorities demanded Joseph-Ignace Guillotin inform them of the whereabouts of the Count's wife and children.
11.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was freed from prison in the general amnesty of 9 Thermidor 1794 after Robespierre fell from power.
12.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was shocked, and for the remainder of his life, he deeply regretted that the machine was named after him.
13.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin's continued efforts to abolish the death penalty were hampered by the widespread belief that as the very person who proposed using a decapitation machine he must surely be in favour of it.
14.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin became one of the first French doctors to support Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccination, and in 1805 was the chairman of the Central Vaccination Committee in Paris.
15.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin founded one of the precursors of the National Academy of Medicine.
16.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was married to Louise Saugrain, sister of the physician and chemist Antoine Saugrain.
17.
Joseph Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was initiated into Freemasonry, in 1765 at "La Parfaite Union" lodge in Angouleme.
18.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin is a primary character in the 1992 novel Dr Guillotine, written by the actor Herbert Lom.
19.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin is the main character in the French drama series La Revolution.