Abstract
An electrostatic discharge protection device comprises several thyristors which are connected in parallel between two nodes of an electrical circuit. It also includes a control circuit having an output connected to the control trigger terminal input of each of the thyristors. In response to an abnormal variation in a voltage between the two nodes being detected, the control circuit initiates a triggering current on the output so as to trigger the thyristors to conduct current between the two nodes. Preferably, the thyristors are arranged in a semiconductor substrate so as to have low hold voltages and small geometrical dimensions.