Émile Durkheim

French sociologist (1858–1917)

AI overview

Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist who lived from 1858 to 1917 and is considered one of the founders of modern sociology. His work established sociology as a scientific discipline focused on understanding how societies function and stay cohesive, making him essential to how we study human social behavior today.

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Émile
Gender: male
Citizenship: France
Place of birth: Épinal
Place of death: Paris
Occupation: historian of religion
Educated at: University of Bordeaux
Employer: University of Bordeaux
Languages spoken: French
Religion: atheism
Award: Knight of the Legion of Honour
Doctoral advisor: Émile Boutroux
Student of: Wilhelm Wundt
Doctoral student: Marcel Mauss
Field of work: ethnology
Image: Émile Durkheim.jpg

Show 16 more facts

writing language: French
cause of death: cerebral hemorrhage
place of burial: Montparnasse Cemetery
Commons category: Émile Durkheim
date of birth: 1858-04-15
date of death: 1917-11-15
topic's main category: Category:Émile Durkheim
member of: Human Rights League
influenced by: Montesquieu
name in native language: David Émile Durkheim
student: Robert Hertz
manner of death: natural causes
Commons Creator page: Émile Durkheim
birth name: David Émile Durkheim
ethnic group: Jewish people
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

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Encyclopedic overview

David Émile Durkheim (/ˈdɜːrkhaɪm/; French: [emil dyʁkɛm] or [dyʁkajm]; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline of sociology, and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, along with Karl Marx and Max Weber.

Much of Durkheim's work concerns the inability of societies to maintain their integrity and coherence in modernity, an era in which traditional social and religious ties are much less universal, and in which new social institutions have come into being. His conception of the scientific study of society laid the groundwork for modern sociology. He used such scientific tools as statistics, surveys, and historical observation in his analysis of suicides in Roman Catholic and Protestant groups.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Émile Durkheim” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.