Emile Durkheim can be recognized as one of the top sociologists in history. Emile's studies on suicide are not only interesting, but factual when debating the topic of suicide rates. Durkheim was a sociologist who devoted his life to the human society to figure out why people do things the way they do. He was determined not only to explain the reason of suicide, but also spent many years on the studies of religion, solidarity, division of labor, incest, and crime. I choose Emile Durkheim because I felt that his work was well written and explained. He gave examples and reasons why he concluded studies on particular fields. Emile can be coined also for relating sociology terminology into education methods which are explained to students every day in schools around the world. His work not only had an impact in the late 1800's early 1900's, but also still has equivalent information that holds true today.
Emile D. Durkheim was born on April 15, 1858 in Epinal, Lorraine. His father was a Chief Rabbi and also the Rabbi of Epinal. Emile spent his early years at rabbinical schools, which was wanted tremendously to be followed by the Durkheim family because it was a tradition. Durkheim had other ideas although while he attended the College of d" Epinal for school. He was extremely well educated and received a degree in Letters and Sciences. Emile later went on to live in Paris where he attended Ecole Normale Superieur at the age of 21. Durkheim met different philosophers and in time gained so much interest in the field that he became a philosophy teacher at Bordeaux. While teaching, Durkheim stressed the importance of sociology and lectured the history of studies and theories that were concluded. .
Emile Durkheim's work on suicide was important because it was an attempt to explain empiricism in sociology. Durkheim defined suicide as "all death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim itself, which he knows will produce this result.