Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist who invented the plastination technique and drew millions of visitors to his controversial Body Worlds exhibitions of preserved human corpses, died on July 24 at the age of 81. His family announced the death in Heidelberg, where he developed the preservation method in the 1970s.
Von Hagens, who had suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years, requested that his own body be plastinated after death, a wish his family has confirmed it will honor. The process replaces bodily fluids and fat with silicone or epoxy resin, producing specimens exhibited worldwide.
Born in 1945 near Poznan in present-day Poland, von Hagens studied medicine in Jena before being imprisoned for political reasons in East Germany and subsequently freed by West Germany. He founded the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg in 1993 and later established a production facility in Guben. His wife Angelina Whalley and son Rurik will continue his work.