Robert Ettinger

American educator and innovator

Also known as: Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger

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June 18, 2026

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Robert Ettinger is recognized as the "father of cryonics". He popularized the concept of freezing a deceased individual with the hope of future revival in his 1964 book, The Prospect of Immortality. Cryonics is the practice of preserving a body at extremely low temperatures, typically using liquid nitrogen, after legal death. The goal is to maintain the body in a vitrified state until future scientific advancements might allow for resuscitation and treatment of the cause of death. Ettinger's own body was cryonically preserved upon his death in 2011.12

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cryonics
…of Immortality, a book by Robert Ettinger that was initially released in 1962 and formally published in 1964. Ettinger subsequently became known as the father of cryonics. His body was cryonically preserved upon his death in 2011 and was stored at the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan. The first…
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…of Immortality, a book by Robert Ettinger that was initially released in 1962 and formally published in 1964. Ettinger subsequently became known as the father of cryonics. His body was cryonically preserved upon his death in 2011 and was stored at the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan. The first…
Read More