9. Jeremy Bentham requested that his body be stuffed and displayed
Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher who is credited rightly as one of the founders of utilitarianism and wrongly as one of the founders of University College London. Bentham, as a social reformer, was one of the early opponents of the death penalty, corporal punishment of children, and a supporter of equal rights for women. Bentham was a leading supporter for the reform of poor laws, including the abolition of debtor’s prisons, workhouses, and child labor. Bentham was also a proponent of the creation of organized police forces which took an active interest in the welfare of their communities rather than simple reacting to crimes when they occurred.
Upon his death at the age of eighty-four in 1832, his carefully prepared and detailed instructions for the disposition of his body were followed, though not without considerable discussion and controversy. Bentham demanded that his body be publicly dissected. Afterwards the skeleton was supported with straw and dressed in Bentham’s clothing for public display in a case which he designated the “auto-icon”. It was fitted with a head resembling Bentham’s made from wax, to which Bentham’s own hair was attached. It remains on display at the University College London’s South Cloisters. The real head was preserved and was displayed for many years before it was locked up to protect it from continuous student pranks. The auto-icon has journeyed to other sites, including New York in 2018, so that those unable to journey to London may gaze upon its wax visage.
