Claude Guillon (17 September 1952 – 19 January 2023) was a French writer and philosopher.[1] A libertarian communist, he advocated for situationist opinions. He gained notoriety in 1982 with the book Suicide, mode d'emploi [fr], which sold over 100,000 copies before being banned.
Claude Guillon
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Born | 17 September 1952 |
Died | 19 January 2023(2023-01-19) (aged 70) |
Nationality | French |
Occupation(s) | Writer Philosopher |
Guillon was born in Paris on 17 September 1952 to an upper-middle-class family. His parents were dental surgeons in the public sector and his grandfather, also named Claude [fr], was a deputy of the National Assembly from 1928 to 1932. He studied at the Lycée de Meudon and graduated in 1970. He was a member of the Revolutionary Anarchist Organization in a small chapter in Meudon. A conscientious objector, he refused his conscription, both military and civil.
In 1977, he became a freelance objector for Libération and was an activist within the "sexual revolution" within the French movement for family planning [fr]. In 1982, he published Suicide, mode d'emploi.
From 1990 to 1994, Guillon was an editor of the magazine Mordicus [fr] alongside Serge Quadruppani [fr]. On 28 August 1996, he was the victim of police violence during a demonstration against the expulsion of undocumented immigrants from Saint-Bernard de la Chapelle.[2] The following month, he appeared in court for his actions during the protest.[2]
The year after Guillon's book was published, the Senate adopted a bill against "incitement to suicide", which was passed by the National Assembly in 1987.[3] The book was mentioned in debates in the National Assembly as an example of what the law intended to prohibit.[4] In 1991, the book was officially banned in France.[5] In 1997, he published À la vie, à la mort - Maîtrise de la douleur et droit à la mort, which discussed the denial of pain in children.
Guillon died on 19 January 2023, at the age of 70.[6]