December 19, 2024
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave to include suicide capsule in collection
The Sarco, the suicide capsule first used in September, will enter the collection of Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden reports Susan Wichgers
Usually, the national Dutch museum of the history of science and medicine, the Boerhaave, collects objects that have already made their mark, says collections manager Christel Schollaardt.
The early respirator the iron lung, for example, or the first clock. But in the future, that will include Philip Nitschke’s suicide capsule.
September 23, the Sarco, as Nitschke christened the capsule, was used for the first time in Switzerland, due to that country’s broader legislation on assisted suicide.
A 64-year-old American woman died in the Swiss forests after pressing the button.
The suicide capsule works with nitrogen gas. This displaces the oxygen present, causing the user to become unconscious and suffocate.
‘Failures are also interesting’
The museum is interested in the capsule because of both the technology Nitschke used and the historical value the Sarco may have in the future.
Perhaps the idea won’t eventually gain a foothold at all, says Schollaardt, ‘but failures in science are also interesting’.
It is not yet clear when the capsule will be on display for museum visitors and whether Boerhaave will have to pay for it.
Only when Nitschke no longer uses it himself will the object go to the museum. ‘Post-it-collecting’ is how Schollaardt calls it: putting a ‘virtual sticker’ on something in advance for later use. ‘That is very new, also for us.’
Death is also new territory for Boerhaave. ‘Many objects are about life, models for obstetrics students, for example.
We don’t have much about death.
The suicide capsule is a technological development that puts the phenomenon in a new light.’
Editor’s note – Philip Nitschke’s first device, the Deliverance Machine, can be seen at the British Science Museum in London.
Philip Nitschke at the Rijksmuseum Leiden, November 2024