About this Event
Advisory: The presentation contains images of Bentham’s skeletal remains and mummified head for descriptive and comparative purposes. UCL is committed to treating human remains with care, dignity and respect.
Museums & Cultural Programmes and the UCL Genetics Institute have recently collaborated on a study examining DNA from Jeremy Bentham's Auto-Icon and mummified head.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was an eminent philosopher who championed legal, political, and educational reform. His arguments and beliefs shaped the central values of the London University: religious tolerance, educational opportunity, 'useful knowledge’, and freedom of speech.
Jeremy Bentham's Will set out two remarkable wishes: to dissect his body for medical instruction, and to transform it into an auto-icon ('self-image'). Created by Dr Thomas Southwood Smith, the seated figure is Bentham's articulated skeleton, dressed in his clothes and topped with a wax head. Today, it sits at the heart of the UCL Student Centre.
With DNA results due later in 2026, Liz Blanks (Curator, UCL Science and Pathology Collections) and Lucy van Dorp (Principal Research Fellow, UCL Genetics Institute) present the curatorial and scientific processes behind this material study and how it sheds new light on Bentham's genetic data and the way his Auto-Icon was created, including the significance of medical wax models.
Audience
This panel event is suitable for ages 18+
Access
Access to the venue is step-free with accessible universal toilets available on the same floor.
Finding us
The venue is found on the main UCL campus in Bloomsbury, in the heart of central London.
The Yellow Room is located inside the North Cloisters of the Wilkins Building, accessible via UCL main entrance off Gower Street
The nearest stations are Euston (National Rail, Victoria, Northern, Lioness), Euston Square (Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City), Goodge Street (Northern Line), Warren Street (Victoria, Victoria), and buses 18, 30, 73, 134 and 205 stop 3-5 minutes away on Euston Road.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Yellow Room, Wilkins Building, UCL Main Campus, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
