The Executioner reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Executioner

An executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence for the state. The image that comes usually to people's minds is of a hooded medieval executioner.

In France Since executions in France persisted until 1977 and were not abolished until 1981, France had an official executioner. Marcel Chevalier was the last executioner of France. France used the Guillotine from during the French Revolution until 1981.

Executioners in society

In Europe, executioners have usually been shunned by their neighbours. This attitude can be observed in numerous novels and films, for instance in Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers or in the film La veuve de Saint-Pierre (The Widow of Saint-Pierre) in which executioners, minor characters, where ostracized by villagers. Interestingly, Asia, Africa, America, and the Pacific seem to display no such prejudice towards executioners.

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