What is a resurrectionist?
Career: Resurrection
Resurrectionists, also known as 'body snatchers,' were individuals who exhumed corpses from graves, primarily during the 18th and 19th centuries, to sell them to medical schools for anatomical study. This practice arose due to the significant shortage of legally available cadavers for medical research and education. Although illegal and controversial, resurrectionists played a role in advancing medical science by providing bodies for dissection, which was essential for learning human anatomy. Over time, their activities led to changes in laws and the eventual establishment of legal means for body donation.