Thanatology (from ancient Greek Thanatos, god of death) refers to the study of death and mourning.

Thanatology is not an occult science, there is no question of communicating with spirits or of finding the way to immortality. On the contrary, it is a serious subject of study, which one of the pioneers of the discipline in France, the anthropologist, sociologist and ethnologist Louis-Vincent Thomas defined in the middle of the 20th century, not as a science of death, but like “The regrouping of all the philosophical, theological, and especially scientific knowledge which speaks about it”.

Thanatology is more particularly interested in three main subjects: 

• the death : its nature, its causes, its modalities. By improving, for example, knowledge of the stages in the decomposition of a body, or the links between lesions observed and the circumstances of death, forensic medicine can only improve its autopsy reports;
• die it: the experience of death by the dying and their loved ones, the right to death if it exists (euthanasia, suicide), ways to die well or to mourn well, support for families facing traumatic disappearances … Are subjects which are of interest to psychologists, caregivers and funeral companies as much as to philosophers and ethics specialists, even elected officials called upon to pass laws affecting this type of subject;
• the afterlife: the techniques of management of the corpse (embalming, exposure of the body, burial, cremation, etc.) and the funeral rites, different according to the civilizations and the societies, have been studied for a long time by the anthropologists and the ethnologists, just like the beliefs around the to become after death (final death, resurrection, reincarnation, etc.). These subjects are also studied by sociologists and funeral professionals, since the practices of commemoration and mourning, the way in which funerals are organized or the memory of the deceased are celebrated, continue to evolve over time. New demands are thus emerging for funerals, for example vis-à-vis more ecological alternatives to conventional burial and cremation.

The development of new technologies also occupies an important place in thanatology: development of medical imaging tools for a minimally invasive examination of corpses (virtopsy TM, or virtual autopsy), development of regenerative medicine, which makes it possible to repair diseased organs with stem cells, work on transhumanism, etc.

In Quebec, as in many other countries, we call thanatologists all death professionals: those who work in cemeteries, columbariums and funeral directors (funeral directors, masters of ceremonies, thanatopractors, sales advisers , etc.), but also in hospitals (persons in charge of funeral chambers, morgue attendants, etc.) or even in the forensic medecine (responsible for autopsies, etc.).

In France, the word thanatologue rather designates researchers who study death. But all the aforementioned professions are, in a way also thanatologists, since they have an advanced knowledge of the practices of meditation, questions around mourning and support for families, body preservation care, stages of the decomposition of the body, etc. 

The International Center for Studies on Death (CIEM), formerly called the Société de Thanatologie, brings together representatives of many professions: funeral directors, doctors, sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, psychologists, etc.

The objective being a better sharing of knowledge.

In addition to describing and attesting to the violence of which a person has been the victim with a view to legal proceedings, the medical examiner is called upon to autopsy corpses to find out the date, causes and circumstances of their death. It can intervene on individuals who have just died or discovered several weeks after their death, but also on remains exhumed years later. This is why he must have a very good knowledge of the decomposition processes of the organism.

Forensic medicine techniques have developed so much in recent decades that there are now several branches in this specialty: forensic pathology, anthropology and forensic radiology, forensic entomology, ‘forensic odontology, forensic toxicology, etc. The forensic pathologist often has to call on multiple specialists to establish the causes and circumstances of a death. 

All these specialists have both skills related to their expertise and legal competence, since they must respect the rules of judicial procedure, and understand the legal consequences of their remarks: it is a question of clarifying the judge’s decision. and not to prejudge in its place.

Forensic pathologists are graduates of a medical school. 

Thanatology researchers have followed various studies before specializing on the subject of death: they are anthropologists, ethnologists, sociologists, philosophers, psychologists, etc.

As for funeral professionals, they come from different backgrounds. A national funeral school was nevertheless created in 2002, at the request of the directors of funeral directors, who wanted to have staff with all the skills necessary to best support grieving families. All profiles can access it, provided they have the required human qualities: good emotional and psychological balance, empathy, ability to work with experienced people, etc.