Category Archives: The Early Modern Period
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL SUB-SAHARAN CULTURES
(documented 1853-present)
African Origin Myths: Man Desires Death (Hans Abrahamsson) Dogon: The Souls of the Dogons (documented by Solange de Ganay, 1937-39) LoDagaa: Restraining the Bereaved to Prevent Suicide (documented by Jack Goody, 1962) Akan: The Detection of Witches: Ordeal and Punishment … Continue reading
ARCTIC INDIGENOUS CULTURES
(documented 1840-1940)
Eskimo of Diomede Island: Father and Son (Edward Moffat Weyer, 1932) Aleut: Are the Aleut Prone to Commit Suicide? (Veniaminov, 1840) St. Lawrence Eskimo: Notes on Eskimo Patterns of Suicide (Leighton and Hughes, 1940) Ingalik: Suicide as Shameful or Insane … Continue reading
OCEANIA INDIGENOUS CULTURES
(documented 1820-1984)
MELANESIA Fiji The Principal Wife of the Chief (William Mariner, 1820) Elderly Parents and the Time to Die (Charles Wilkes, 1845) Deaths of the Old Chief and his Wives (Thomas Williams, 1858) Solomon Islands Tikopian Attitudes Towards Suicide (Raymond Firth, … Continue reading
THOMAS DE QUINCEY
(1785-1859)
from Essays in Philosophy: On Suicide
The English essayist and critic, Thomas De Quincey, was one of the foremost figures in English Romanticism. De Quincey was born in Manchester of a mercantile family; at 17, he ran away from school and wandered through Wales and … Continue reading
Filed under De Quincey, Thomas, Europe, Martyrdom, Selections, The Early Modern Period
RAMMOHUN ROY
(1774–1833)
from Translation of a Conference Between an Advocate For, and an Opponent Of, the Practice of Burning Widows Alive
Raja Rammohun Roy (also spelled Ram Mohun) was born in Bengal in an ancient Brahman family in 1774, or, according to some sources, 1772. Roy was a religious and social reformer during the British colonial period and founder of … Continue reading
Filed under Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Roy, Rammohun, Selections, The Early Modern Period
JEAN-ÉTIENNE-DOMINIQUE ESQUIROL
(1772-1840)
from Mental Maladies: A Treatise on Insanity
Jean-Étienne Esquirol is considered the most renowned French psychiatrist of the 19th century. He was born in Toulouse to a destitute but influential family. After traveling to Paris for a career in medicine, Esquirol formed a close bond with … Continue reading
NOVALIS
(1772–1801)
from The Novices of Sais
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg was a lyric poet of German Romanticism and a prose writer of encyclopedic talent; he wrote under the nom de plume Novalis. He was born into a family descended from the low German nobility; … Continue reading
Filed under Europe, Mass Suicide, Novalis, Selections, The Early Modern Period
GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL
(1770-1831)
from Philosophy of Right
Born to a Protestant family in Stuttgart, Hegel received an excellent early education. He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary of Tübingen, where he was particularly influenced by the works of Kant and Schiller. After passing his theological … Continue reading
ANNE LOUISE GERMAINE DE STAËL-HOLSTEIN
(1766-1817)
from On the Influence of the Passions
from Reflections on Suicide
Anne Louise Germaine née Necker, Baroness of Staël-Holstein, widely known as Madame de Staël, was an important Swiss-French writer known for her work in literary criticism and for her novels. She was the daughter of a politician, Jacques Necker; … Continue reading
EPHRAIM ZALMAN MARGOLIOTH
(1762-1828)
from Bet Efrayim
Ephraim Zalman Margolioth, a Galician rabbi, was the author of many commentaries esteemed as authoritative within the Jewish tradition. He was born in Brody, Poland, Dec. 19, 1762, and began to distinguish himself as a Talmudic scholar at a … Continue reading
Filed under Europe, Judaism, Margolioth, Ephraim Zalman, Selections, Sin, The Early Modern Period