 Actually, the invention
was originally named after its inventor, a Frenchman named
Antoine Louis. It was later renamed -- forever -- after the person
who advocated its use, a French doctor named Joseph. We'll save his
last name for later, since it wouldn't be much of a story if you
knew his name at this point.
To really understand the implications of this invention, you need
a good understanding of French history. Since I have neither a good
understanding of French history nor the desire to learn it, we'll
just skip that part.
In 18th-century France, criminals were executed in long,
drawn-out affairs that usually involved torture. Joseph tried to ban
the death penalty altogether, and in the process he proposed the use
of this killing machine as a more humane method of execution. He
thought this would be the first step toward ending the death
penalty. The machine that bore his name was first used in 1791 and
resulted in more than 40,000 deaths during the French Revolution. It
made the death penalty happen so quickly that it desensitized people
to the point that it probably resulted in an increased number of
executions -- which was just the opposite of what Joseph wanted. It
was used only sparingly by the time it was finally put to rest in
1977, more than 200 years after it was first used.
The French Revolution lasted from 1789 to 1799 and included a
period known as the Reign of Terror. During this time, there was a
group known by the misnomer of the "Committee of Public Safety."
This committee could try anyone for offenses as simple as food
hoarding all the way up to murder. Victims would be executed with
the machine that was named after Joseph.
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His children tried to get the government to rename the machine after
he died in 1814, but the government refused. His children did manage
to get their last name changed, though. Two centuries later,
Joseph's name is still linked with this evil device.
Joseph's name is forever linked in the history books with another
Frenchman, a Louis Capet. You've heard of both of these men, even if
you don't recognize them just yet.
At first, Joseph's machine did not have an official name,
although it was originally referred to as a "luissette" or a "louisson"
(named for its original inventor, Antoine Louis). Once the device
was mass-produced, it became known by many unofficial names, such as
the "bastard daughter" (because no one would take credit for
inventing it) and the "national razor."
Eventually, it was given Joseph's last name because he was the
one who proposed its use. Its first, um, "customer" was a robber
named Nicolas Pelletier in 1792. Its most notable victims were King
Louis XVI and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, which can only mean
one thing. The person for whom the death machine was named was Dr.
Joseph Guillotin. I think you know the name of the invention by now.
France, by the way, finally outlawed the death penalty in 1981.
Who was the Frenchman mentioned earlier, Louis Capet? That was
the given name of King Louis XVI.
For all you wannabe inventors out there, there's a lesson to be
learned here: Think twice before naming your invention after
yourself.
[By
PAUL NIEMANN]
Paul Niemann may be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
Copyright Paul Niemann 2008
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