Jack Kevorkian Biography

Jacob “Jack” Kevorkian was an American pathologist who was one of the most persistent advocates of euthanasia or assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. He was most famous for helping several patients commit suicide and for advocating terminally ill patients’ ‘right to die’. He was nicknamed “Dr.Death” for his unorthodox views on death and for his role in facilitating the death of more than 100 patients via physician-assisted suicide. Kevorkian had always been an outspoken physician, known for his controversial ideas related to death. Earlier in his career he had proposed conducting medical experiments on death-row prisoners, an idea which was met with much opposition. He had also successfully experimented with transfusing blood from the recently dead into live patients, but there were no takers for this idea either. A long time believer in euthanasia, he publicly advertised his “death counselling” services and wrote articles highlighting his views about euthanasia. He also designed euthanasia devices like the “Thanatron” and "Mercitron" for humanely putting the patients out of their suffering. He had been arrested and tried many times for murder and assisting suicides, but nothing could stop this crusader from fighting for his patients’ right to die; he remained a passionate advocate of euthanasia till his death. He was a multifaceted personality, who in addition to being a doctor was also a jazz musician and painter.