Émile Durkheim

Father of Sociology

April 15, 1858–November 15, 1917

Astrological Sign: Aries

Emile Durkheim

Known as the Father of Sociology. He published the first journal of sociology and helped to establish sociology as a social science in academia.

Key Beliefs: Durkheim believed in the existence of “social facts,” and studied society as a creation by individual components. He researched how societies maintained social order and social norms. Durkheim theorized that all actions, even those of individuals trying to remove themselves from society are products of a collective consciousness.

Influenced By: Auguste Comte, Herbet Spencer, Karl Marx, Max Weber

Influenced: Structuralist Sociologists, Maurice Halbwachs,

Publications: The Division of Labor in Society, Rules of Sociological Method, On the Normality of Crime, Suicide, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Professional Ethics and Civil Morals