German creator of Body Worlds anatomy exhibits dead at 81

BERLIN – The German creator of the controversial Body Worlds exhibitions of dissected human and animal bodies, Gunther von Hagens, has died at age 81, his family said on July 27.

They added in a statement that “it was Gunther von Hagens’ own wish to make his body available for plastination after his death”, referring to his technique of preserving human remains.

“His family will respect and carry out this wish.”

Von Hagens, an anatomist, lecturer and entrepreneur nicknamed “Dr Death” in the 1970s, invented the plastination process, which involves removing water and fat from human and animal tissue and replacing them with chemical compounds.

He would then display the bodies in life-like poses, revealing their muscles, skeletons and internal organs in exhibitions that drew millions worldwide but also occasionally faced calls for bans.

He faced charges of voyeurism and profiting commercially from death. Controversies such as a 2002 autopsy performed in London – on camera and before an audience – further fuelled his notoriety.

The Body Worlds exhibit featured in a scene of the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.

Von Hagens was born on Jan 10, 1945, in what was Nazi-occupied Poland and grew up in communist East Germany.

He was jailed after an attempt to flee communist Germany but later made his way to West Germany where, following his medical studies, he invented the process to preserve biological specimens in 1977.

Von Hagens died on July 24, according to his team, who praised him as “a pioneer, a researcher, an inventor” and an “iconoclastic and sometimes controversial thinker”, who through his work made “anatomy accessible to the general public”.

His wife and collaborator Angelina Whalley wrote that “Gunther wanted to give people a look beneath the skin – not out of a desire for sensationalism, but out of the deep conviction that knowledge of one’s own body can contribute to a more conscious, healthy and responsible life.

“His work was scientific, educational and deeply humanistic. He led millions of people to see their own bodies in a new light,” she said. AFP