Hamida Djandoubi was executed by guillotine at Baumettes Prison in Marseille, France. He was the last person executed in France and the last person put to death by guillotine anywhere. France abolished capital punishment in 1981.

The guillotine had been a dominant literary symbol since the French Revolution, appearing in works by Dickens, Hugo and numerous poets. Its final use closed a historical practice associated with public terror, mechanical justice and the power of the modern state.