Emile Durkheim
Dulce Fernandez
Background
David Emile Durkheim was born on April 15, 1858 in Epinal and died on November 15, 1917. His mother, Melanie was a merchant's daughter. Durkheim's father, Moïse, was rabbi of Epinal from the 1830's. He came from a long line of French Jews.
"Sadness does not inhere in things; it does not reach us from the world and through mere contemplation of the world. It is a product of our own thought. We create it out of whole cloth."
Facts
- He founded the first European University deportment of Sociology in 1895
- Turned away from religious faith and became an agnostic
- In 1893, he published The Division of Labor in Society
- Was an expert at many different languages such as German and Italian
- Faced major responsibilities at age 20, when his father died
- Introduced the concept of 'Anomie' or lack of societal norms that could result in instability and chaos
- Called to a professorship in sociology and education at the Sorbonne in Paris
- In 1887, he was named lecturer in education and sociology at the university of Bordeaux
- He analyzed statistical data on suicide rates
- From 1882-1885 he taught philosophy in several provincial lycées