Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
Born
April 15, 1858(1858-04-15)
Épinal, France
Died
November 15, 1917
(aged 59)
Paris, France
Nationality
French
Fields
Sociologists
Alma mater
École Normale Supérieure
Academic
advisors
Numa Denis Fustel de
Coulanges
Émile
Durkheim
(French
pronunci-
ation: [dyʁkɛm]; April 15, 1858 – November
15, 1917) was a French sociologist whose
contributions were instrumental in the forma-
tion of sociology and anthropology. His work
and editorship of the first journal of soci-
ology, L’Année Sociologique, helped establish
sociology within academia as an accepted so-
cial science. During his lifetime, Durkheim
gave many lectures, and published numerous
sociological studies on subjects such as edu-
cation, crime, religion, suicide, and many oth-
er aspects of society. He is considered as one
of the founding fathers of sociology and an
early proponent of solidarism.
Biography
Early years
Émile Durkheim was born in Épinal, Lorraine
on 15 April 1858. He came from a long line of
devout French Jews; his father, grandfather,
and great-grandfather had been rabbis. At an
early age, he decided not to follow in his fam-
ily’s rabbinical footsteps. Durkheim himself
would lead a completely secular life. Much of
his work, in fact, was dedicated to demon-
strating that religious phenomena stemmed
from social rather than divine factors. While
Durkheim chose not to follow in the family
tradition, he did not sever ties with his family
or with the Jewish community. Many of his
most prominent collaborators and students
were Jewish, and some were blood relations.
A precocious student, Durkheim entered
the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in 1879.
The entering class that year was one of the
most brilliant of the nineteenth century and
many of his classmates, such as Jean Jaurès
and Henri Bergson would go on to become
major figures in France’s intellectual history.
At the ENS, Durkheim studied with Numa
Denis Fustel de Coulanges, a classicist with a
social scientific outlook, and wrote his Latin
dissertat