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I went out for dinner with some friends tonight and somehow or another we got around to talking about 18th-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who I fully intend to visit on my research trip. And by visit, I do not mean stopping by his grave.

Bentham was associated with the founding of University College London, and in his will, he stipulated that his body be preserved (in a seated position) and stored in a cabinet at the college.


The figure is now all wax, but his skeleton still lies beneath it all. His head, however, was damaged in the initial preservation process and a wax head was connected to the flesh body instead. However, the real head was also on display in the cabinet, sitting between Bentham's legs. As a result of being stolen in a series of student pranks, the head was eventually locked away.

Popular legend has it that Bentham's Auto-Icon is wheeled into College Council meetings to "attend". Depending on who you read, Bentham attends as a non-voting member, votes to support the motion, or votes as the Chair votes. Now that's tenure.

Sources here and here (scroll down to "Auto-Icon").