Snopes rated the claim “Dr. Joseph Guillotin invented the guillotine and was later executed with one of those machines.” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Figure timeline
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin 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 French physician, Antoine Lo…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · French physician, politician and freemason (1738 – 1814) · physician · politician · also Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, Joseph Ignace Guillotin, Guillotin
Born 28 May 1738 · Died 26 March 1814 · Q220650
7 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
2 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Milestone
- Milestone
2011· 1 entry
1814· 2 entries
Died 1814-03-26.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
Of natural causes, aged 75, specifically from a carbuncle, and is now buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1805· 1 entry
Was the chairman of the Central Vaccination Committee in Paris
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1789· 2 entries
Career landmark: deputy to the Estates-General of 1789 (1789–1791).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Career landmark: president (1789).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1738· 1 entry
Born 1738-05-28.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth