The Jeremy Bentham Auto-Icon: Why This Legendary Philosopher Put His Own Body on Display

Every month, a staff member at University College London opens a large glass case in the student center to check on its contents, which is a skeleton dressed in 19th-century clothing with a wax head, sitting in a chair. The skeleton is that of Jeremy Bentham, a British philosopher who believed in making himself useful even after death. Bentham left his body to be dissected and preserved as an "auto-icon" to promote the idea of using corpses for medical education and to challenge traditional burial practices. He was an atheist and didn't believe in a religious burial, and he thought his preserved body could be useful for science and education. Bentham's auto-icon was created according to his instructions, with his skeleton dressed in his own clothes and topped with a wax head made by a French artist. The auto-icon was initially kept in a wooden box in Dr. Southwood Smith's office, but was later given to University College London, where it is now on display in a climate-controlled case. Over the years, the auto-icon has been the subject of myths and legends, including stories of students stealing the head and playing soccer with it. While these stories are largely untrue, the auto-icon has been stolen and ransomed back, and students have taken the wax head to a bar. Today, the auto-icon is visited by people from all over the world, and some students even treat it with reverence, asking for good luck on their exams. Despite the unusual nature of the auto-icon, it remains a fascinating and thought-provoking display that continues to inspire curiosity and debate.