Resource Tag: HISTORICAL SUICIDES

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Horace, Plutarch, & Dio Cassius are the 3 main sources for Cleopatra. All used fairly harsh language against her before her suicide but softened their tone & portrayed her more appreciately once she decided to take her own life. This paper explores the possible explanations for this & the apparent contradiction it creates. Through close […]

Offers factual information about suicide, providing a brief history, discussing risk factors and mental disorders, addressing young victims and the right to die, and exploring suicide as a weapon, experiences of people left behind, and prevention.

This article examines the influence that the suicide of Robert Seymour, an illustrator, had upon Charles Dickens & the development of “The Pickwick Papers”. {35 notes)

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People who have committed a certain sin ought to be dead; I am a person who has committed that sin therefore I ought to be dead. Thus is the logic of a suicidal mind. Lester, Szasz, & others argue the sinner should always be allowed to kill him/herself. Shneidman, Leenaars, & others do not agree. […]

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) had an eccentric personality & unstable moods, suffered from recurrent psychotic episodes during the last 2 years of his life, & died by suicide at the age of 37. Despite limited evidence, well over 150 physicians have ventured a perplexing variety of diagnoses of his illness. In this article, the highlights […]

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This article describes the last days of the life of Russian poet Sergei Esenin, leading up to his death by suicide. The author describes the deterioration of Esenin’s physical & mental health & looks to his poetry to shed light on his state of mind at the time.

Constantin Merezhkowsky was a biologist who is today celebrated for his theory of symbiogenesis, postulated in the early decades of the twentieth century. The authors present a complex perspective on his science, his troubled life & career, disclosing his sordid social & political activities, his eugenics & racist writings, his paedophilia, & his metaphysics. Finally, […]

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For commentary on this article, please see SIEC #2004-1472

For the original article by J Westefeld and A Less, please see SIEC #2004-1471

This article examines the circumstances of Meriwether Lewis’ death by suicide in 1809. Although some have claimed that he actually died by homicide, the author argues that this account only became popular in the folklore surrounding Lewis 80 years after his death, & determines that there is no substantial evidence to support the claim. Lewis’ […]

The author attempts to shed light on the life of John Eliot, the second British Governor of West Florida, whose seemingly sudden death by suicide in 1769 has remained something of an historical mystery.