ED
Philosophy & Social Sciences

Emile Durkheim

Who

Emile Durkheim · Philosophy & Social Sciences

What

Sociologist, a founding figure of modern sociology as an academic discipline

When

1858, Épinal, France — 1917, Paris, France

Where

France

Biography

Emile Durkheim is recognized among Jewish contributors to Philosophy & Social Sciences — Sociologist, a founding figure of modern sociology as an academic discipline

How & why

Durkheim established sociology as a rigorous academic discipline, founding France's first university sociology department and the journal L'Année sociologique, and pioneering empirical method in works such as The Rules of Sociological Method (1895) and Suicide (1897). Born into an Alsatian Jewish family descended from a line of rabbis, he abandoned religious practice but his Jewish background is well documented.

Sources & external links
Contributions & Sources

Sociologist, a founding figure of modern sociology as an academic discipline

1895

Source: Britannica