Émile Durkheim

Émile Durkheim (born April 15, 1858, Épinal, France—died November 15, 1917, Paris) was a French social scientist who developed a vigorous methodology combining empirical research with sociological theory. He is widely regarded as the founder of the French school of sociology. Durkheim was born into a Jewish family of very modest means, and it was taken for granted that he would become a rabbi, like his father. The death of his father before Durkheim was...