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Capital punishment in France
Capital punishment in France was abolished in 1981. The last executions (by guillotine) had taken place in 1977, the last in the then European Union. The last person to be executed was Hamida Djandoubi, on September 10. France's last executioner was Marcel Chevalier.
The guillotine had been proposed in 1789 by Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (although similar devices had been used before elsewhere). The French Revolution in 1792 abolished hanging and required all executions to happen by means of the blade, rather than reserving it only for nobles. However, beheading by an axe or blade is less efficient than hanging, hence the introduction of the guillotine, which was first used on Nicholas-Jacques Pelletier on April 25. Guillotines then spread to other countries.
Public executions continued until 1939. The last person to be publically executed was Eugene Weidmann, on June 17, for murders, outside the Palais de Justice at Versailles. Photographs of the execution appeared in the press, and apparently this spectacle provoked the government to cease the practice of public executions. Instead, from June 24, executions were held in Santé prison in Paris
The 1940s and the wartime period saw an increase in the number of executions, including the first executions of women since the 19th century. In the 1950s to the 1970s, the number of executions steadily decreased, with for example Georges Pompidou, president of France between 1969 to 1973, giving clemency to all but three people out of the fifteen sentenced to death. President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing oversaw the last executions. The book and film of Le Pull-over rouge, documenting the possibly unsound conviction and execution of one of these, Christian Ranucci, is credited with helping to bring about the final abolition of the death penalty in 1981, which was pushed through the National Assembly with the backing of newly elected president François Mitterrand.
Other related archives1789, 1792, 1939, 1940s, 1950s, 1969, 1970s, 1973, 1977, 1981, 19th century, April 25, Capital punishment, Christian Ranucci, Eugene Weidmann, European Union, France, François Mitterrand, French Revolution, Georges Pompidou, Hamida Djandoubi, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, June 17, June 24, Marcel Chevalier, National Assembly, Palais de Justice, Paris, September 10, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Versailles, guillotine, president of France, wartime period
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Capital punishment in France", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
