History Everyday on Instagram: "Eugen Weidmann (5 February 1908 – 17 June 1939) was a German criminal and serial killer who was executed by guillotine in France in June 1939, the last public execution in France. The “hysterical behaviour” by spectators was so scandalous that French President Albert Lebrun immediately banned all future public executions. However, the guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981, just not for the publ