Jeremy Bentham was an interesting guy who advocated for things like equal rights for women and the abolition of slavery.
Among the many other important things Jeremy Bentham accomplished I also learned that he had written into his Will that his body be preserved, stored in a cabinet and brought out for special board meetings.
Then one day his head, which was not preserved well…fell off. So they made a wax one and stuck his real head between his feet ( see picture above) .
Jeremy Bentham’s Head
I’m sorry to say I couldn’t have made this stuff up…
darn it.
An interesting guy. So glad my drama is over. I can’t miss Halloween around here!
By: californiablogging on October 21, 2007
at 8:54 am
Now I know how I want to be buried.
By: onipar on October 21, 2007
at 3:36 pm
As I live and breathe its Jennifer ( ta-da!)
I’ll be round soon…
And Tony, you are SO talking to the right girl for this. Let me know about the wax head though…it can be done but the real one is much more interesting. Especialy since it fell off and all.
anita marie
By: Anita Marie on October 21, 2007
at 4:05 pm
Your blog is doing a great job getting me ready for Halloween. How creepy!
By: Kym on October 22, 2007
at 4:48 am
i think that the world would be a much better place if every poorly preserved head could just fall off, and then the person whose head it was got given a new one.
this would work best if we didn’t have to wait for ppl to die, like, before it became an option.
By: gullybogan on October 23, 2007
at 1:03 pm
Hi Kym! Wait till you see what I’ve got coming up…
you know Gullybogan, I was standing here and after I read your comment I could see all these heads popping off peoples shoulders- man, that’s a BRILLIANT idea.
Gold Star for you.
anita marie
By: Anita Marie on October 23, 2007
at 3:35 pm
How sad that someone who advocated such simple and good concepts would be such a basketcase.
This would be like finding out Gandhi requested that his bones be ground up and snorted during a masonic ritual or that Martin Luther King Jr. demanded to be mummified and used as a pinata.
How very depressing.
By: D. Peace on October 24, 2007
at 6:04 pm
Everything Jeremy did- he did for other people.
So in the end if he wanted something wild and silly and off the wall…I say give it to him.
After all- look at what he did…the man was a rebel.
anita marie
By: Anita Marie on October 25, 2007
at 2:16 am
I read about this in my son’s Believe it or Not book. But your write up on it is so much more poetic!
By: regaroo on October 25, 2007
at 6:32 pm
….wow…..yeah that is pretty over the top.
By: joyfulpraisegirl on June 4, 2008
at 2:06 am