Charles-Henri Sanson

From childhood, Sanson abhorred executions. He had reason to—his father was an executioner. Charles-Henri wanted to become a doctor and began studying medicine. But he had to abandon his studies to support his family by taking up the profession that all his ancestors had practiced. And since his tenure coincided with the Revolution, he became the most active executioner in French history. Sanson was a royalist. Nevertheless, he was the one who guillotined the king. In total, he carried out nearly three thousand executions. In 1795, he’d had enough and resigned – once again, a father passed the role down to his son. In his free time, Sanson played the cello.
JK

1739 - 1806

February 15, 1739 · Charles-Henri Sanson is born in Paris as the eldest son of the executioner Charles-Jean-Baptiste Sanson.

1753 · He leaves the monastic school in Rouen after a fellow student reveals his father’s profession. The headmaster regrets his departure but wants to protect the school’s reputation. Charles-Henri receives private tutoring and begins studying medicine in Leiden.

1754 · When his father becomes paralyzed, Charles-Henri takes over the executioner’s duties to support the family.

January 10, 1765 · He marries Marie-Anne Jugier, who is six years older. They have two children.

1778 · He officially becomes the executioner of Paris and inherits the blood-red coat from his father.

April 1792 · Together with Guillotin and Tobias Schmidt, he helps develop the guillotine.

April 25, 1792 · First use of the guillotine in Paris to carry out the death sentence of the robber Nicolas Jacques Pelletier.

January 21, 1793 · Sanson executes Louis XVI on the Place de la Révolution.

March 10, 1793 · The creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal increases the number of executions in Paris. Nearly three thousand death sentences are carried out before Robespierre’s fall.

June 17, 1794 · Execution of the 54 red shirts on the Place du Trône Renversé, during which, among others, 20-year-old Cécile Renault, Nicole Bouchard (18), and Émilie de Sainte Amaranthe (17) are executed. Charles-Henri nearly faints and is sent home sick by his assistants.

July 28, 1794 · After Robespierre’s death, the Terror ends, but the guillotine remains in use.

1795 · Charles-Henri Sanson hands over the office to his son Henri, who had in fact been carrying out the guillotine executions since 1793. The father, however, had always been present at the executions.

July 4, 1806 · Charles-Henri Sanson dies in Paris.

Quotes

And to give truth its due, he faced it all with a composure and steadiness that astonished us all. I remain entirely convinced that he drew this strength from the principles of religion.
Sanson on the execution of the king

Forty-three minutes had sufficed to deprive the Republic of its founders and to plunge France into mourning for the noblest of her children.
Sanson on the execution of the Girondins on 31 October 1793

If emperors, kings, and dictators can sleep soundly, why shouldn’t the executioner?
Sanson’s reply to a question from Napoleon about whether he could sleep well despite having executed so many people

Last words of the guillotine victims

Frenchmen! I am innocent! I forgive the authors of my death and I pray to God that my blood, once shed, may never fall back upon France.
Louis XVI
21 January 1793

I have never seen such a thing [the guillotine]. In my situation, one is of course very curious.
Charlotte Corday
17 July 1793

Pardon me, sir. I did not do it on purpose.
Marie Antoinette
16 October 1793

I die on a day when the people have lost their reason. You will die when they have regained it.
Marc David Lasource
31 October 1793

This is wasted time. You can also take off my boots when I am dead. Let us hurry!
Philippe Égalité
6 November 1793

O Liberty! What crimes are committed in your name!
Madame Roland
8 November 1793

Please, one more minute, one more minute, executioner!
Madame du Barry
6 December 1793

Show my head to the people! It is worth it.
Georges Danton
5 April 1794

Lucile!
Camille Desmoulins
5 April 1794

Am I lying properly like this, executioner?
Marie-Nicole Bouchard
17 June 1794

Take courage, my dear friend, be brave! Only he who has committed a crime may show weakness.
Marie Thérèse Françoise de Choiseul
27 July 1794

Charles-Henri Sanson

Talk to Sanson!

1739 - 1806

Quotes

Le Moniteur

Last words of the guillotine victims

External links