[A sketch of history of the European tanatopraxis].

Tanatopraxis is an intentional action aiming to stop all the processes, which lead to a complete decomposition of a body after death. The words embalmment or mummification makes us think about cultures of the ancient Egypt or pre-Columbian America and not about burials of Indo-European nomads or Chinese aristocrats. Meanwhile practices aiming to protect mortal remains against a destructive force of death were known in Europe very long ago. We can see it in paludal burials of the Iron Age and in some testimonies of the ancient epochs. Interventions, which could materially retard decomposition of a body, had been rather generally practiced from the Middle Ages. More practical than religious reasons justified it, but the latter cannot be overlooked. The religious background of such actions can be seen in the custom of embalming mortal remains of popes or kings of France. It was in Europe where the preservation of crops had started to be treated as a scientific problem, and we can see it for the first time in the Renaissance. Together with a development of medical knowledge and especially of anatomy and preparations, a great progress both in methods and substances used for embalming, took place. Ruysh and Holmes in the 17th century, the Hunter brothers in the 18th century and Gannal and Holmes in the 19th century are the milestones in the history of tanatopraxis in Europe. Foundation of the French Institute of Tanatopraxis (IFT) has crowned the many hundred years old experience in the field.