Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist who invented plastination and created the Body Worlds exhibitions, has died aged 81. He died in a hospital in Heidelberg on 24 July, a day after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage, having lived with Parkinson's disease since his diagnosis in 2008. His death brings him closer to fulfilling a long-held wish to have his own body plastinated and put on public display, a plan his institute has confirmed will go ahead, though the exact form and location have yet to be decided.

Von Hagens developed his preservation technique in 1977 while working at the University of Heidelberg, replacing bodily fluids and fat with resins and polymers to leave tissue rigid and lifelike. From 1995 his plastinated bodies toured the world in the Body Worlds exhibitions, curated with his second wife, Angelina Whalley, drawing more than 50 million visitors and displaying figures in poses ranging from chess-playing to sporting activity. The shows, which he said were meant to "democratise anatomy," proved controversial, with critics accusing him of using exhibits such as foetal specimens to titillate audiences. Born Gunther Gerhard Liebchen in 1945 in then German-occupied Poland, he grew up in East Germany, was imprisoned in 1969 for attempting to flee west, and was released the following year after West Germany paid for his freedom.