1928-
Advocate for Doctor-Assisted Suicide

Dr. Death.

Jack Kevorkian was born on 26 May 1928 in Pontiac, Michigan, the only son of immigrant Armenian refugees. Kevorkian graduated from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1952 and was licensed to practice medicine the following year, earning a residency in pathology at the University of Michigan Hospital. He completed his internship at Pontiac General Hospital and was associated with Pacific Hospital, Long Beach, California, until 1982. Kevorkian first earned the nickname "Doctor Death" when he performed research on the eyes of dying patients. He photographed the retinas at the moment of death and discovered that corneas become invisible at death. He published this discovery in the hopes that it would help doctors distinguish between death and comas. In 1958 Kevorkian presented a paper to a scientific society proposing that death-row inmates be anesthetized instead of executed and their living bodies be...