The guillotine was the official method of execution in France until 1981 During the French Revolution, anatomy professor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed that capital punishment in France should be carried out by decapitation on people of all classes because it was the most humane method available. Dr Antoine Louis of the Academy of Surgery designed the machine that came to be known as the guillotine after pointing out that beheading by sword was highly impractical. The guillotine consists of a wooden frame with an angled blade that runs along grooves. After the executioner ...