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Jeremy Bentham
Human Mummy
180px-Jeremy Bentham Auto-Icon
Biographical Information
Name(s) Jeremy Bentham
Age 84
Sex m
Status scholar
Height
Source
Culture English
Date(s) 1748-1832
Site
Current Location
Location University College London, London, England
Catalog #

Jeremy Bentham was a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer. Jeremy was the leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, his ideas influenced and developed helped with the welfarism. He had advocated many laws and rights to allow for equality through out the society he lived in. Bentham was born in Houndsditch, London, to a wealthy family, he was reported to be a child prodigy. Throughout his life, he had made many accomplishments and he was a famous man. In 1832 when Bentham died, he left instructions upon his death that his body would be dissected, and then to be permanently preserved as an "auto-icon".

Mummification[]

Bentham died on the 6th of June in 1832, he was 84 at the time. Bentham left very specific details on the preservation of his body to be an auto-icon, he made a will leaving his body for dissection to a family friend. This mans name was George Fordyce, however it was Thomas Southwood Smith who Bentham instructed to create the auto-icon of him self. Bentham intended the Auto-icon to incorporate his actual head, mummified to resemble its appearance in life. Southwood Smith's experiments on mummification, was based on practices of the indigenous people. This involved placing the head under an air pump over sulfuric acid and simply drawing off the fluids. This procedure was a success, however gave Bentham a dried and darkened skin look, to fix this he was given a wax head.

Studies[]

Currently Jeremy Bentham is on public display at University College London, his body continues to be in the same shape as before. However, his real head was relocated to a secure place locked away.

Pathology[]

Jeremy Bentham passed away at the age of 84 in 1832, he died of natural causes.

Additional[]

Bentham's original head was kept in another preserving case, then soon later relocated locked away in a secure place, due to students pranks. Bentham did a lot of work in his life time and to this day many of his publications still exist, moreover his works are still studied till this day.

References[]

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Bentham

https://www.iep.utm.edu/bentham/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham#Death_and_the_auto-icon

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