List of suicides
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Suicide |
|---|
| History of suicide |
| List of suicides |
| Views on suicide |
| Medical | Cultural |
| Legal | Philosophical |
| Religious | Right to die |
| Suicide crisis |
| Intervention | Prevention |
| Crisis hotline | Suicide watch |
| Types of suicide |
| Suicide by method | Copycat suicide |
| Cult suicide | Euthanasia |
| Forced suicide | Internet suicide |
| Mass suicide | Murder-suicide |
| Ritual suicide | Suicide attack |
| Suicide pact | Teenage suicide |
| Related phenomena |
| Parasuicide | Self-harm |
| Suicidal ideation | Suicide note |
Contents |
[edit] Famous people who died by suicide
- See also: List of famous deaths by accidental drug overdose and Lists of people by cause of death
- See also: List of songs about suicide and List of films about suicide
The following are lists of notable people who have definitely died intentionally by their own hand, regardless of the circumstances. Suicides committed under duress are included. Deaths by accident or misadventure are excluded. Individuals who might or might not have died by their own hand, or whose intention to die is in dispute, but who are widely believed to have deliberately killed themselves, may be listed under Possible suicides.
[edit] Alphabetical
| Lists of people |
|---|
| By name |
| By belief |
| By nationality |
| By occupation |
| By office held |
| By prize won |
[edit] A
- Johnny Ace (1954), singer, American singer, playing Russian Roulette
- Chris Acland (1996), British drummer (Lush), hanging
- Nick Adams (1968), American actor, overdose of paraldehyde and Promazine.
- Robert Adams, Jr. (1906), congressman from Pennsylvania, shot himself after heavy losses in stock speculation
- Stuart Adamson (2001), Scottish singer (Big Country, Skids), hanging
- Chris Adkisson, a.k.a. Chris von Erich, (1991), professional wrestler, gunshot to the head
- Kerry Adkisson, a.k.a. Kerry von Erich, (1993), professional wrestler, gunshot wound to the chest
- Mike Adkisson, a.k.a. Mike von Erich, (1987), professional wrestler, overdosed on the tranquilizer Placidyl
- Neil Aggett (1982), South African worker's union leader; hanged in prison (murder is suspected by some)
- General Sergei Akhromeev (1991), Soviet military commander who led an unsuccessful coup against Mikhail Gorbachev
- Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1927), Japanese writer (author of "Rashomon"), barbital overdose
- Leandro Alem (1896), Argentine politician, founder of the Radical Civic Union
- Michael Alfonso, a.k.a. Mike Awesome (2007), professional wrestler, hanging
- Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1899), member of the British Royal Family
- Salvador Allende (1973), president of Chile (elected 1970), and uncle of renowned author Isabel Allende - allegedly shot himself during a coup d'etat against his regime orchestrated by General Augusto Pinochet - some sources allege that he was killed
- Jeff Alm (1993), NFL player, killed himself following a car accident which killed his passenger
- Marwan al-Shehhi (2001), One of the Arabian suicide hijackers responsible for the attacks on 11 September 2001
- Jason Altom (1998), Ph.D. student
- Jean Améry (1978), Austrian writer
- Forrest Howard Anderson (1989), Governor of Montana
- Fridolin Anderwert (1880), Swiss Federal Councilor
- Aman Andom (1974), military ruler of Ethiopia; committed suicide to avoid his execution in an internal purge
- Gwili Andre (1959), Danish actress
- Roger Angleton (1998), brother of imprisoned Texas extortionist who admitted in his suicide note to killing his sister-in-law, socialite Doris Angleton
- Anson Jones (1858), doctor, businessman, congressman, and the last president of the Republic of Texas
- Mark Antony (30 BC), Roman politician and general
- Marshall Applewhite (1997), leader of the Heaven's Gate cult
- Hubert Aquin (1977), author
- Diane Arbus (1971), art photographer
- Reinaldo Arenas (1990), Cuban-American artist and writer
- Pedro Armendáriz, (1963), Mexican actor of both mexican and hollywood's movies
- Edwin Armstrong (1954), U.S. inventor of FM radio; jumped from a 13th floor window believing FM was a failure
- Nikolas Asimos (1988), Greek rock musician
- Mohamed Atta (2001), leader of 19 Arabian suicide hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks, he himself being the suicide pilot of one of four teams; he crashed a plane into the North tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Its collapse caused a death toll of approx. 1800
- George Ault (1948), American painter
- Albert Ayler (1970), American jazz saxophonist; jumped into New York City's East River
[edit] B
- Milan Babić (2006), former leader of Republic of Serbian Krajina who pleaded guilty to war crimes
- Bogoda Buwaneka Lal (2002),The prime agricultural entrepreneur in Sri Lanka who cultivated thousands of acres of land with fruits and vegetables
- James Robert Baker (1997), American writer
- Albert Ballin (1918)
- José Manuel Balmaceda (1891), President of Chile
- Jorn "Cuddles' Barger (2007),Hobo rodeo clown and Blogger , jumped overboard while his ship was south of Los Angeles
- Isobel Barnett (1980), British TV personality
- Donald Barry, AKA Red Ryder (1980)
- Diana Barrymore (1960), U.S. actress, writer ('Too Much, Too Soon')
- Gert Bastian (1992)
- J. Clifford Baxter (2002), Enron vice-chairman
- Thomas McKee Bayne (1894), U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania
- Scotty Beckett (1968), child actor, Our Gang films
- Charles Eugene Bedaux (1944), efficiency engineer charged with treason for collaboration with Vichy government
- Gertrude Bell (1926), archaeologist, writer, spy and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq"
- Peter Bellamy (1991), English folk singer
- Ota Benga (1916), African Pygmy put on "display" in United States
- Walter Benjamin (1940), German cultural theorist
- Jill Bennett (1990), British film actress
- Pierre Bérégovoy (1993), French Prime Minister, killed himself a month after losing a general election
- Hans Berger (1941), German physician and inventor of electroencephalography, by hanging
- Mary Kay Bergman (1999), American voice actress
- Paul Bern (1932), American film producer, director and writer, husband of Jean Harlow, bullet wound to the head, generally believed to be murdered by Dorothy Millette
- Ricky Berry (1989), American NBA Basketball player (Sacramento Kings)
- John Berryman (1972), American poet, jumped from the Washington Avenue Bridge (Minneapolis) after waving to passers-by
- Bruno Bettelheim (1990), child psychologist
- Ward Beysen (2005), Belgian politician
- Robert Bishop (1991), fetish artist
- Jens Bjørneboe (1976), Norwegian author
- Clara Blandick (1962), played Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz
- Blossius of Cumae, Roman philosopher who led a failed revolt
- Barcroft Boake (1892), Australian poet, hanged himself from a tree
- Ludwig Boltzmann (1906), Austrian physicist
- Jeremy Michael Boorda (1996), 4-star Admiral, 25th Chief of Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy
- Ricardo Bordallo (1990), two-time Governor of Guam
- Adrian Borland (1999), British musician
- Ernest Borneman (1995), German sexologist
- Tadeusz Borowski (1951), Polish author
- Francesco Borromini (1667), architect
- Georges Boulanger (1891), French politician and general
- Tommy Boyce (1994), with Bobby Hart, songwriter for The Monkees
- Karin Boye (1941), Swedish author
- Charles Boyer (1978), French actor
- Frank B. Brandegee (1924), U.S. Senator from Connecticut, died in office
- Jonathan Brandis (2003), American actor
- Cheyenne Brando (1995), Daughter of Marlon Brando, hanged
- Maria Xavier "Maye" Brandt Angulo (1982), Miss Venezuela 1980, Miss Universe 1980 contestant; gunshot to the head
- Eva Braun (1945), mistress and then wife of Adolf Hitler, cyanide
- Richard Brautigan (1984), American writer
- Herman Brood (2001), Dutch musician and painter
- Barry Brown (1978), actor and writer
- Oskar Brüsewitz (1976), East German cleric, committed self-immolation in protest of East Germany's persecution of Protestants
- Brutus (42 BC), Roman politician, assassin of Julius Caesar
- Eustace Budgell (1737), remembered because his death was discussed in a conversation between Samuel Johnson and his friend and biographer Boswell
- Joshua Busch (2006), Tobacco Company Consultant
- Bernard Buffet (1999), French painter ('The Crucifixion')
- Rembrandt Bugatti (1916), Italian sculptor
- Dan Burros (1965), Jewish Neo-Nazi
[edit] C
- Andres Caicedo (1977), Colombian novelist
- Capucine (1990), French actress
- Wallace Hume Carothers (1937), world renowned chemist, suffered chronic depression; killed himself in a hotel in 1937
- Don Carpenter (1995), American novelist, friend of Richard Brautigan
- Dora Carrington (1932), artist
- Kevin Carter (1994), award-winning South African photographer and member of the Bang-Bang Club
- Hugh Casey (1951), baseball player
- Joseph Daniel 'Danny' Casolaro (1991), journalist
- Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1968), painter
- Gaius Cassius Longinus (42 BC), Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), British politician
- Cato the younger (46 BC), Roman republican statesman
- Ugo Cavallero (1943), Italian Field Marshal
- Paul Celan (1970), Romanian poet
- Valerie Chacon (1982), wife of Bobby Chacon
- Iris Chang (2004), Chinese-American author
- Claude Chappe (1805), French inventor
- Thomas Chatterton (1770), English poet
- Leslie Cheung (2003), Hong Kong movie star and singer
- Vere Gordon Childe (1957), Australian archaeologist and historian, jumped off Govett's Leap in the Blue Mountains
- Vern Christie, (1991), Australian businessman, General Manager of the Commonwealth Bank
- Edwin P. Christy, (1862), American entertainer, founder of the Christy Minstrels
- Christine Chubbuck (1974), U.S. newsreader, shot herself in the head on live TV after reading the news
- Chung Mong-hun (2003), Korean businessman, chairman of Hyundai Asan
- Diana Churchill (1963), UK social worker, eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill
- Jeremiah Clarke (1707), composer of Trumpet Voluntary, shot himself
- Alasdair Clayre (1985), British academic, writer, broadcaster and singer, jumped in front of train
- Cleopatra (30 BC), Queen of Egypt, snake bite
- Charmian Clift (1969), Australian writer, wife of George Johnston;
- Charles Clegg (1979), American author, photographer and railroad enthusiast
- Robert Clive (1774), British conqueror of India and founder of the Empire, cut throat with pen-knife
- Kurt Cobain (1994), lead singer and guitarist of the American rock-band Nirvana, (death officially ruled suicide by gunshot, but remains controversial to this day)
- Harrison Cockrill (1876), U.S. Congressman from Kentucky
- Sid Collins (1977), radio voice of the Indianapolis 500, hanged himself after being diagnosed with ALS
- Ray Combs (1996), former host of popular American game show Family Feud, used bedsheets to hang himself
- Joseph Cordova (2006) shot himself after shooting boxer Vincente Garcia
- Pamela Courson (1974), long time girlfriend of Jim Morrison, unknown whether she accidentally or purposely overdosed
- Adam Couture, (1973), Former French politician and popular horse collector, used bed sheets to tie himself to horse and dragged across his 30 acre property
- F. W. S. Craig (1989), UK election expert
- Hart Crane (1932), American poet; jumped from a boat
- Darby Crash (1980), American songwriter, singer of the Germs
- René Crevel (1935), French writer, gassed himself
- Sir Richard Croft (1818), obstetrician in attendance at Princess Charlotte's "triple obstetrical tragedy" shot himself
- Dennis Crosby (1991), actor, son of Bing Crosby
- Harry Crosby (1929), writer, publisher
- Lindsay Crosby (1989), actor, son of Bing Crosby
- Andrew Cunanan (1997), killer of Gianni Versace and four others
- Will Cuppy (1949), American writer, humorist
- Ian Curtis (1980), English singer and songwriter (Joy Division)
- Adam Czerniakow (1942), Warsaw Ghetto leader killed himself rather than obey Nazi orders
- Csáth Géza (1919) , Hungarian writer
[edit] D
- Daniel Dumont (2006)
- Dalida (1987), French singer
- Dorothy Dandridge (1965), American singer and actress, first black woman nominated for Academy Award as Lead Actress for "Carmen Jones", death ruled suicide by overdose
- Monika Dannemann (1996), Girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix
- Bella Darvi (1971), actress of Polish parentage, gas
- Dazai Osamu (1948), Japanese novelist
- Guy Debord (1994), French philosopher, member of Situationist International
- Jeanine Deckers (1985), Belgian religious, known as The Singing Nun
- Albert Dekker (1968)
- Delphine Delamare (1848), French woman, the basis for Flaubert's Madame Bovary
- Gilles Deleuze (1995), French philosopher, jumped from apartment window
- Brad Delp (2007), lead singer of Boston, asphyxiation by carbon monoxide
- Penelope Delta (1941), Greek author, ingested poison the same day the Germans invaded Athens
- Denice Denton (2006), University of California Chancellor, jumped from 42-story San Francisco apartment building
- Patrick Dewaere (1982), French actor
- Rudolf Diesel (1913), Inventor of the Diesel engine
- Dioxippus (336 BC?); Greek pankration fighter who nakedly defeated an armored, and armed, soldier of Alexander the Great's; he was framed for theft, and forced into suicide, for his victory
- Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (2001), young King of Nepal, committed suicide after assassinating his father, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family
- Hugo Distler (1942), German composer, is believed to have committed suicide to avoid conscription into the German army
- Desmond Donnelly (1974), British politician who fitted into none of the parties he tried
- Terence Donovan (1996), English celebrity photographer
- Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (1983), former president of Cuba
- Chris Doty (2006), Canadian filmmaker and playwright
- Nick Drake (1974), British singer-songwriter, overdose (possibly accidental though officially ruled a suicide) of the anti-depressant, tryptizol
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1945), French novelist
- Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb (2004), American heart surgeon
- Micke Dubois (2005), Swedish comedian, hanged himself
- Thich Quang Duc (1963), self-immolation, Saigon
- Pete Duel (1971), American actor
- K Sello Duiker (2005), South African author
- Davor Dujmović (1999), Yugoslavian-Roma actor
- James Dungy (2005), son of Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy
- Bud Dwyer (1987), American politician, shot himself on live television
[edit] E
- Jeanne Eagels (1929), American silent film actress
- John P. East (1986), U.S. Senator from North Carolina
- George Eastman (1932), inventor
- Richey Edwards (1995), member of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers, missing since 1995, assumed to be suicide
- Ronnie Edwards (1994), British Great Train robber and flower seller
- Tristan Egolf (2005), writer, musician and campaigner
- Paul Ehrenfest (1933), Austrian physicist
- Harold 'Pompey' Elliott (1931), Australian Senator and war hero, first Federal politician to attempt suicide, gunshot
- John Ellis (1932), remorseful hangman
- Empedocles (432 BC), Greek philosopher, threw himself into Mt Etna
- Gudrun Ensslin (1977), German revolutionary, member of Baader-Meinhof gang
- Peg Entwistle (1932), U.S. actress, the first person to jump from the letter 'H' of the Hollywood sign; step-mother of Brian Keith who also committed suicide
- Sergei Esenin (1925), Russian poet, hanging
- Lee Eun-ju (2005), South Korean actress
- Tom Evans (1983), Bass guitarist for Badfinger
[edit] F
- Richard Farnsworth (2000), U.S. actor, Oscar nominee (self inflicted gunshot wound to the head).
- Justin Fashanu (1998), British footballer
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1982), German film director (often listed as a drug overdose)
- René Favaloro (2000), Argentinian doctor, creator of the coronary artery bypass surgery
- Andrea Feldman (1972), Actor, Warhol superstar
- George Fiske (1918), photographer
- Robert FitzRoy (1865), Governor-General of New Zealand, Royal Navy officer. Nephew of the Viscount Castlereagh.
- Ed Flanders (1995), U.S. actor (St. Elsewhere}
- John Gould Fletcher (1950), Pulitzer Prize winning poet
- James V. Forrestal (1949), former U.S. Secretary of Defense who quoted Sophocles in his suicide note
- Dédé Fortin (2000), leader and singer of Québec band Les Colocs
- Vincent Foster, (1993), Deputy White House Counsel, still controversial
- Wade Frankum (1991), Spree shooter of Strathfield Massacre
- Sigmund Freud (1939), founder of psychoanalysis (lethal dose of morphine)
- John Friedrich (1991), Australian businessman and fraudster
[edit] G
- Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1993), former president of Georgia
- Ted Gärdestad (1997), Swedish pop musician
- Dave Garroway (1982), television host
- Romain Gary (1980), Russian-French novelist, film director and diplomat
- Danny Gatton (1994), American guitarist
- Michel Gauquelin (1991), French psychologist and astrology researcher
- Kostas Georgakis (1970), Geology student, committed suicide as a protest to the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
- Peter George (1966), author (Red Alert)
- Mark Gertler (1939), British artist
- Henri Giffard (1882), French aeronautical engineer
- Michael Gilden 2006, American actor, dwarf
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1935), American feminist and author (Herland & The Yellow Wallpaper)
- John Wayne Glover 2005, North Shore Granny Killer.
- Kurt Gödel (1978), German logician and mathematician (refused to eat any food)
- Joseph Goebbels (1945), German Nazi leader
- Hermann Göring (1946), German Nazi leader
- Julen Goikoetxea (2006), Spanish cyclist
- Fritha Goodey (2004), British actress
- Adam Lindsay Gordon (1870), Australian poet ('Life is mostly froth and bubble')
- Arshile Gorky (1948), Armenian painter
- Eddie Graham (1985), American professional wrestler
- Shauna Grant (1984), American adult film actress
- Spalding Gray (2004), American playwright, drowned in Atlantic after jumping off Staten Island Ferry
- Richard Greene (1983), boxing referee
- Peter Gregg (1980), race car driver, gunshot to head
- Robert von Greim (1945), German Air Marshal
- Anton Gustafsson (2003), Swedish singer (Anton Maiden)
- Antonio Guzmán Fernández (1982), serving president of the Dominican Republic
[edit] H
- Clara Immerwahr Haber (1915) German chemical engineer, wife of Dr Fritz Haber whose army pistol she used soon after the first use of gas in WWI
- Kenneth Halliwell (1967), English writer, lover of Joe Orton whom he killed before killing himself
- Mitch Halpern (2000), American boxing referee
- Peter Ham (1975), Welsh rock musician (Badfinger)
- Rusty Hamer (1990), American former child actor (The Danny Thomas Show)
- Lois Hamilton (1999), American actress, model, author, aviatrix
- Tony Hancock (1968), British comedian
- Hani Hanjour (2001), Arabian suicide pilot responsible in part for the 11 September, 2001 attacks
- Edward Allen Hannegan (1859), U.S. Congressman from Indiana
- Hannibal (182 BC), Carthaginian military commander
- Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1922), British politician who killed himself after knowledge of his attempted seduction of a 12 year old boy became public
- James Harden-Hickey (1898), U.S. eccentric who wrote a book about the appeal of suicide that also featured quotes on the subject from famous people; he chose an overdose of morphine
- Mary Hardy (1985), Australian TV personality (found dead in the bath and was presumed to have committed suicide)
- Eric Harris (1999), U.S. mass murderer, famous for the Columbine High School Massacre shootings with Dylan Klebold
- Michael Daniel Harter (1896), U.S. Congressman from Ohio
- Brynn Hartman (1998), wife of actor Phil Hartman whom she murdered before turning the gun on herself
- Elizabeth Hartman (1987), U.S. actress who emulated a character in her film 'The Group' who jumped from a window
- Arihiro Hase (1996), Japanese voice actor best known for his role as Hikaru Ichijyo from the anime TV series Super Dimensional Fortress Macross
- Donny Hathaway (1979), singer, best known for his duets with Roberta Flack
- Felix Hausdorff (1942), mathematician, committed suicide with his wife and sister-in-law in a concentration camp
- Phyllis Haver (1960), American actress of the silent film era
- Benjamin Haydon (1846), British painter
- Jeanne Hébuterne (1898-1920), painter, partner of Modigliani
- Sadegh Hedayat (1951), Iranian writer, gassed himself
- John Heddle (1989), British politician
- Ernest Hemingway (1961), American novelist, shotgun
- Margaux Hemingway (1996), American actress and model; Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter
- Benjamin Hendrickson (2006), American actor (As The World Turns), gunshot wound to the head
- George Hennard (1991), American spree-killer (Luby's massacre)
- James Leo Herlihy (1993), U.S. novelist (Midnight Cowboy)
- Willard Hershberger (1940), baseball player, only major league player to commit suicide during the season
- Rudolf Hess (1987), Nazi leader
- Paul Hester (2005), Australian musician
- Hideto Matsumoto (1998), Japanese musician and member of the band X Japan. Asphyxiative hanging by means of a towel, not proven to be suicide.
- George Hill (1934), American film director
- Heinrich Himmler (1945), German SS leader
- Adolf Hitler (1945), Nazi Germany's leader
- Abbie Hoffman (1989), U.S. political activist and political demonstrator. Some people claim he was murdered.
- Hong Xiuquan (1864), Chinese leader of the Taiping Rebellion
- Doug Hopkins (1993), musician, founding member of rock group The Gin Blossoms Killed himself with a .38 pistol December 5
- Elmyr de Hory (1976), Hungarian art forger
- Robert E. Howard (1936), American creator of "pulp" heroes Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja, shot himself in the head after learning that his mother was in a permanent coma
- Danton Hughes (2001), Australian sculptor, son of Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes, gassed himself at home
- Francis Hughes (1981), IRA member, died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Chuck Humphrey (1998), American Heaven's Gate cult member
- Martin Hurson (1981), IRA member, died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Suad Husni (2001) Egyptian actress, jumped off balcony
- Michael Hutchence (1997), lead singer of Australian rock band INXS. Hung himself from his hotel room door with his leather belt.
- Phyllis Hyman (1995), American singer
- Jared High (1998), bully victim, killed himself at age of 13 due to the bully problems
[edit] I
- William Inge (1973), U.S. playwright (Picnic, Come Back, Little Sheba, Bus Stop, Splendor in the Grass)
- Judas Iscariot - Hanged himself
- Isocrates (338 BC), Greek rhetorician
- Juzo Itami (1997), Japanese actor and film director, leapt from the roof of his office building
[edit] J
- Cal Jammer (1995), Adult film star
- Alice de Janzé (1941), American heiress
- Vittorio Jano (1965), automobile design engineer
- Richard Jeni (2007), comedian
- Jim Jones (1978), leader of the Peoples Temple cult, died along with 914 of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at Jonestown, in northwestern Guyana
- Alex Jordan (1995), American porn film actress
- Nafisa Joseph (2004), Femina India Universe 1997, Miss Universe 1997 semi-finalist and MTV VJ, hanged
- Luc Jouret (1994) homeopath, Belgian cult leader
- József Attila (1937), Hungarian poet (hit by a train, the fact that it was suicide was never proved and many people think it was an accident)
- Jung Da Bin(2007) South Korean Actress
[edit] K
- Ghazi Kenaan (2005), Syrian Minister
- Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (1918), Cossack leader during the Russian Civil War
- Sarah Kane (1999), British playwright
- Kostas Karyotakis (1928), Greek poet, shot himself
- Yasunari Kawabata (1972), Japanese writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, gassed himself
- Ivar Kreuger (1932), Swedish match industrialist, found dead in a hotel room in Paris
- Kawakami Bizan (1908), Japanese novelist
- Brian Keith (1997), American actor (Family Affair)
- Dr. David Kelly (2003), British scientist, source of BBC story about the September Dossier
- Samuel A Kendall (1933), congressman from Pennsylvania, self inflicted gunshot wound in the House Office Building
- Preston King (1865), Senator from New York, leapt from ferryboat in New York Harbor
- Dylan Klebold (1999), U.S. mass murderer, famous for the Columbine High School Massacre shootings with Eric Harris
- Heinrich von Kleist (1811), German dramatist and poet
- Jochen Klepper (1942)
- Günther von Kluge (1944), German Field Marshal
- Fletcher Knebel (1993), U.S. novelist (Seven Days in May)
- William F. Knowland (1974), former Senate Majority Leader, self inflicted gunshot
- Sándor Kocsis (1979), Hungarian football (soccer) player, killed himself in Barcelona after diagnosis of stomach cancer and leukemia
- Arthur Koestler (1983), journalist, novelist, political activist, and social philosopher
- Sarah Kofman (1994), French philosopher
- Hannelore Kohl (2001), wife of ex-chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl
- Nestor Kombot-Naguemon (2004), diplomat and politician from the Central African Republic, jumped out of a window in Paris while serving as ambassador to France
- Woo Bum-Kon (1982), spree killer, Uiryong, Korea
- Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1945), Japanese war criminal
- Alexandros Korizis (1941), Greek prime minister
- Jerzy Kosinski (1991), Polish-American author
- Philip Taylor Kramer (1995), rock musician and physicist
- Louis Krages (2001), German race car driver and businessman (raced under the name of John Winter)
- Ivar Kreuger (1932) Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. Shot himself.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (1945), Nazi official during WWII
- Friedrich Alfred Krupp (1902), German industrialist, committed suicide when his homosexuality was revealed
[edit] L
- Alan Ladd (1964), U.S. film star, overdose of alcohol and pills, highly disputed for many years
- Paul Lafargue (1911), son-in-law of Karl Marx, communist theorist and author of The Right to Be Lazy
- Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (1953), Senator from Wisconsin
- Karen Lancaume (2005), French adult film star
- Carole Landis (1948), actress
- James H. Lane (1866), Senator from Kansas, general in Civil War, shot himself after being charged with financial irregularities
- Hans Langsdorff (1939), captain of the Admiral Graf Spee
- Napoleon Lapathiotis (1944), Greek writer
- Florence Lawrence (1938), Hollywood's first movie Star
- George P. Lawrence (1917), representative from Massachusetts, jumped out of building to death due to stress caused by World War I
- Katherine Lawrence (2004), writer
- Lee Kyung Hae (2003), South Korean activist
- Marshall Ledbetter Jr. (2003), lone man of non-violent protest within an office in Tallahassee, FL capitol building in 1991
- Jon Lee (2002), drummer of the band Feeder
- Richie Lee (2001), vocalist with U.S. 90s alternative rock band Acetone
- Victoria Lee (1888), daughter of Emma Lee French
- Megan Leigh (1990), American erotic dancer and porn star
- Marc Lepine (1989), Canada's most prolific spree killer
- Primo Levi (1987), Italian author and Auschwitz survivor
- Meriwether Lewis (1809), U.S. explorer with Clark; died in mysterious circumstances, either murder or suicide
- Robert Ley (1945), Nazi war criminal
- Max Linder, (1925), French actor
- Vachel Lindsay (1931), U.S. poet
- Louis Lingg (1887), scheduled to be hanged for his alleged role in the Haymarket Square riot bomb, committed suicide by holding a lit stick of dynamite in his mouth
- Ruan Lingyu (1935), Chinese actress
- Diane Linkletter (1969), daughter of Art Linkletter
- Friedrich List (1846), German economist
- Mikael Ljungberg (2004), Swedish wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
- Peter Llewelyn-Davies (1960), UK publisher who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan
- Ross Lockridge, Jr. (1948}, U.S. novelist, author of Raintree County
- Philip Loeb (1955), blacklisted American actor
- Mark Lombardi (2000), U.S. artist whose art described international white-collar crime networks; hanged himself in his Williamsburg, New York studio
- Jack London (1916), U.S. novelist (his doctor believed he had committed suicide by overdose of morphine and atropine, but his widow prevailed on a more senior doctor to ascribe the death to uremia, and had the body quickly cremated before an autopsy could be done)
- Terry Long (2005), Former NFL player
- Hans Loritz (1946), concentration camp commandant at various times - Esterwegen, Dachau, Sachsenhausen
- Noah Lottick (1990), Scientologist, profiled in TIME article The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
- Lorenz Lotmar (1980), Swiss writer
- Malcolm Lowry (1957), British writer
- Gang Lu (1991), Physics graduate student at the University of Iowa
- Gherasim Luca (1994), Romanian surrealist
- Lucan (65), Roman poet
- Ron Luciano (1995), baseball umpire
- J Anthony Lukas (1997), U.S. author and journalist
- Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1918), Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist
- Roman Lyashenko (2003), professional hockey player
- Frankie Lymon (1968), singer ("Why do Fools Fall in Love?"), drug overdose
[edit] M
- Richard Manuel, (1986), singer, multi-instrumentalist, member of The Band, hanged himself while on tour in Florida
- Simone Mareuil, (1954), French film actress
- Andrew Martinez (2006), nude activist
- Susannah McCorkle (2001), jazz singer
- Kid McCoy (1940), world champion boxer (real name: Norman Shelby)
- Billy Mackenzie (1996), lead singer of 1980s pop group The Associates
- Gordon McMaster (1997), British politician
- Magnentius (353), Roman usurper
- Willy Mairesse (1969), Belgian race car driver
- Sándor Márai (1989), Hungarian writer and journalist
- Harry Martinson (1978), Swedish author
- Denis Matthews (1988), UK pianist
- Robert Maxwell (1991), Czech-born UK newspaper magnate who, some believe, jumped overboard in the Atlantic leaving a financial disaster in his wake - the official inquest ruled it was 'accidental drowning'
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1930), Russian poet; his suicide note said 'I don't recommend it for others'
- Jacques Mayol (2001), French free-diver
- Robert M. McLane (1904), mayor of Baltimore
- Joe Meek (1967), Record producer
- Niklaus Meienberg (1993), Swiss author
- Ulrike Meinhof (1976) German radical leftist terrorist
- Kitty Melrose (1912), English actress
- Joseph Merrick (1890), UK celebrity known as the Elephant Man; alleged to have committed suicide by allowing his massive head to obstruct his windpipe
- Charlotte Mew (1928), English poet
- Noel Mewton-Wood (1953), Australian pianist; drank prussic acid
- James Miller, fan man, (2003), parachutist
- Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1996), science-fiction writer
- Mary Millington (1979), British porn star
- Freddie Mills (1965), world champion boxer
- William Oswald Mills (1973), U.S. congressman from Maryland
- John Milton (1865), Governor of Florida
- Yukio Mishima (1970), Japanese novelist; committed public ritual seppuku
- Ana Mladić (1994), daughter of Serbian General Ratko Mladić, indicted for war crimes
- Walther Model (1945), German Field Marshal
- Arthur Moeller van den Bruck (1925), German cultural historian
- George de Mohrenschildt (1977), gunshot wound to the mouth
- Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (2001), South African jazz pianist
- Jürgen W. Möllemann (2003), German politician
- Marilyn Monroe (1962), American actress (some suspect foul play)
- Henry de Montherlant (1972), French writer
- Donnie Moore (1989), relief pitcher for the California Angels
- Duane R. Morrison (2006), Platte Canyon High School shooting
- Ted Moult (1986), British television personality
- Renate Müller (1937), German actress
- Al Mulock (1968), Canadian actor, committed suicide on the set of his last film, Once Upon a Time in the West
- David Munrow (1976), UK early music specialist, founder of the Early Music Consort
- James Murray (1936), American silent film actor, (The Crowd), drowned in the Hudson River
[edit] N
- Scott Nearing (1983), American peace activist and practical conservationist; by self-starvation at nearly 100 years of age
- Oskar Nedbal (1930), Czech composer ('The Tale of the Simply Johnny'); jumped out a window on Christmas Eve
- Gérard de Nerval (1855), French writer
- Robert Leon Nichols (1997), roadie with the Grateful Dead, in an apparent copy of the Heaven's Gate cult suicides
- Joachim Nielsen (2000), Norwegian singer in the band Jokke & Valentinerne, overdosed on heroin
- Goce Nikolovski (2006), Macedonian singer
- Frank Nitti (1943), U.S. gangster, who shot himself rather than go to jail (some believe that Nitti was murdered)
- Maresuke Nogi (1912) Japanese hero of Russo-Japanese war, committed ritual suicide 切腹 with his wife following death of Meiji emperor
- Cynthia Nolan née Reed (1976) Sir Sidney Nolan's second wife
[edit] O
- John O'Brien (1994), author of Leaving Las Vegas (on which the film was based)
- C. Y. O'Connor (1902), Irish engineer
- Hugh O'Connor (1995), actor
- Luis Ocaña (1994), Spanish cyclist, Tour de France winner
- Phil Ochs (1976), American singer, hanged himself in sister's apartment, Far Rockaway, New York
- Per Yngve Ohlin (a.k.a. Dead), (1991), vocalist for Mayhem, killed himself with a shotgun after having slashed his wrist and cut his throat
- Yukiko Okada (1986), Japanese idol of the '80s jumped from a 7 story building after failed wrist slashing and gas inhalation attempts
[edit] P
- Jan Palach (1969), protesting Soviet crushing of the Prague Spring
- Pepsi Paloma (1984), Filipino softporn film actress, hanged herself after dropping a rape case against Filipino TV Hosts Tito, Vic & Joey. Tito (Sotto) being a former Philippine Senator.
- Billy Papke (1936), world champion boxer
- Violeta Parra (1967), famous Chilean folk singer
- Phasael (40 BC), prince from the Herodian Dynasty
- Jules Pascin (1930), French-American painter
- John Patrick (1995), U.S. playwright and screenwriter; placed a plastic bag over his head
- Cesare Pavese (1950), Italian poet, novelist
- George Periolat (1940), Silent film actor, drank arsenic
- Petronius Arbiter (66), Roman satirist; opened his own veins
- Justin Pierce (2000), British Actor
- Richard Piggott (1890), author of the Piggott Forgeries
- H. Beam Piper (1964), American science fiction writer
- Sylvia Plath (1963), American poet, author and essayist; gassed in kitchen oven
- Dana Plato (1999), American actress, drug overdose
- Derrick Plourde (2005), Musician, drummer of the Ataris, Lagwagon, Bad Astronaut, RKL and Mad Caddies shot himself on March 30th
- Stevie Plunder (1995), Australian guitarist, The Whitlams
- Ben Pollack (1971), Drummer and big-band leader from the mid '20s to the Swing era
- Jan Potocki (1815), Polish aristocrat, traveler, writer; shot himself with a silver bullet
- Marc Potvin (2006), Hockey coach, hanged himself
- Nicos Poulantzas (1979), Greco-French Marxist political sociologist
- Felix Powell (1942), UK song writer best known for "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile", once described as 'the most optimistic song ever written'
- Kiki Preston (1946), American heiress
- Lucien Anatole Prevost-Paradol (1870), French journalist and diplomat
- George R Price (1975), American population geneticist
- Freddie Prinze (1977), Puerto Rican American comedian and actor, best known for television show Chico and the Man, died of self inflicted gunshot wound
- Carlos Prío Socarrás (1977), former president of Cuba
- Boris Pugo (1991), serving minister of the Interior of the USSR
- Jack Purvis (1962), American jazz trumpeter
[edit] Q
- Richard Quine (1989), U.S. film director
- Robert Quine (2004), guitar player of Richard Hell & the Voidoids
- Glenn Quinn (2002), Mark on TV's "Roseanne", Drug Overdose
[edit] R
- Florencio Morales Ramos (1989), Ramito, trova singer
- Kuljeet Randhawa (2006), Indian television actress, hanging
- Danny Rapp (1983), frontman for Danny & the Juniors
- David Rappaport (1990), actor
- Jan-Carl Raspe (1977), German criminal in Baader-Meinhof gang
- Geli Raubal (1931), niece and possibly lover of Adolf Hitler; officially committed suicide but may have been murdered
- Margaret Mary Ray (1998), David Letterman stalker, knelt in front of a train
- Roy Raymond (1993), founder of Victoria's Secret
- Alfred Redl (1913), Austrian army officer, spied for Russia
- George Reeves (1959), U.S. actor, played Superman on television, death officially ruled suicide by gunshot, but remains controversial to this day
- David Reimer (2004), Canadian advocate/the "John/Joan" case
- Thomas Caute Reynolds (1887), Governor of Missouri
- Thomas Reynolds (1844), Governor of Missouri
- René Rivkin (2005), Australian stockbroker and entrepreneur
- Carlos Roberto Reina (2003), former president of Honduras
- Angel Rivero Mendez (1930), Puerto Rican soldier for the Spanish Army, inventor
- John Robarts, (1982), former Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, 1961 - 1971; committed suicide with shotgun
- Rachel Roberts (1980), Welsh-born British actress
- Bill Robinzine (1982), American basketball player
- Charles Rocket (2005), American comedian
- Sue Rodriguez (1994), Canadian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) victim and advocate for Euthanasia
- Samuel Romilly (1818), British prison reformer
- Erwin Rommel (1944), German Field Marshal
- Iris von Roten-Meyer (1990), artist and jurist
- Mark Rothko (1970), Russian-American painter
- Irv Rubin (2002), leader of the Jewish Defense League
- Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (1889), heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne
- Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1857), Senator from Texas
- Michael Ryan (1987), mass murderer at Hungerford; self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing many others, to avoid capture by police
- Jakub Jan Ryba (1815), Czech composer and teacher
- Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1927), Japanese novelist
- Johnathan Rubis (1892), American Columnist
[edit] S
- Albert Salmi (1990), American actor, apparently shot his wife to death with one gun and shot himself in the heart with another
- Alexander Samsonov (1914), Russian military commander, gunshot to head following disastrous Battle of Tannenberg
- George Sanders (1972), English actor, barbiturate overdose
- Bobby Sands (1981), IRA member, died in the 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Monica Santa Maria (1994), "Dalina" (hostess) of the Peruvian children's series Nubeluz
- Alberto Santos-Dumont (1932), Brazilian aviation pioneer, hanging
- Bruce Sarver (2005), American NHRA driver, gunshot
- Drake Sather (2004), American standup comedian, gunshot
- Savannah (1994), American porn actress, shot herself with a handgun
- Gia Scala (1972), British actress, overdose of drugs and alcohol, after previous unsuccessful suicide attempts
- David Scarboro (1988), British actor (EastEnders), threw himself from Beachy Head
- Eugen Schauman (1904), Finnish nationalist, assassin of Governor-General Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov
- Martin J. Scheiman,ESQ.{1967},Famed Mad Magazine Attorney and Libal lawyer. of self inflicted gun shot wound.
- Margie Schoedinger (2003), filed lawsuit against George W. Bush claiming that she had been raped
- Dave Schulthise (2004), bassist for Dead Milkmen
- Conrad Schumann (1998), GDR refugee
- Ingo Schwichtenberg (1995), former drummer of German power metal band Helloween
- 'Screaming Lord Sutch', (1999), UK eccentric singer and politician
- William Seabrook (1945), adventurer, travel writer
- Jean Seberg (1979), American actress
- Edie Sedgwick (1972), American socialite, Warhol superstar
- Sergio López Segú (2006), Spanish footballer, threw himself under a train
- Seneca the Younger (65), was ordered to commit suicide by the emperor Nero
- Anne Sexton (1974), American poet, inhaled carbon monoxide
- Frances Ford Seymour (1950), NYC socialite, mother of Peter and Jane Fonda
- Del Shannon (1990), American singer
- H.A. Shanu (1905), Congo reformer
- Harold Shipman (2004), imprisoned British doctor found to have killed 250+ of his patients
- Arthur Shrewsbury (1903), former captain of the England cricket team
- Elizabeth Siddal (1862), Pre-Raphaelite icon
- Eli Siegel (1978), founded Aesthetic Realism
- Varnado Simpson (1997), Pfc jointly responsible for the My Lai Massacre
- The Singing Nun - see Jeanine Deckers with her companion, Annie Pécher, in 1985 by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol
- Walter Slezak (1983), U.S. actor
- Everett Sloane (1965), U.S. actor, part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater
- Alex Smith (1990), Queen of the Earth Aka ' Shiva ' This links to Alex Smith, a professional football player for the San Francisco 49ers, who has not committed suicide.
- Elliott Smith (2003), American musician (reported as suicide, still officially under investigation - no suspects named)
- James Leonard Brierley Smith, 1968, South African paleoanatomist
- Paul Snider (1980), promoter, murdered Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten then killed himself
- Mitch Snyder (1990), U.S. activist, advocate for the homeless
- Soga no Emishi (645), statesman
- John Hanning Speke (1864), U.K. explorer of Africa
- John Spence (1987), U.S. musician. Original lead singer of No Doubt, shot himself 9 months after band's 1st official gig
- Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1947), U.K. forensic pathologist who helped convict Dr. Crippen; gassed himself in an oven at his laboratory
- Layne Staley, (2002), Lead singer for American 'grunge' band, Alice in Chains; heroin overdose
- Serge Stavisky (1934), Russian-French swindler
- Inger Stevens, 1970, Swedish born American film actress
- Gary Stewart (2003), country singer
- Adalbert Stifter (1868), Austrian writer
- Rory Storm (1972), singer of the Hurricanes (the band Ringo Starr was in before he joined The Beatles), in a pact with his mother
- Alfonsina Storni (1938), Argentinian poetess. She committed suicide, by entering the sea at the La Perla beach near Mar del Plata, Argentina.
- David Strickland (1999), actor
- István Széchenyi (1860), Hungarian statesman
- David Edward Screaming Lord Sutch (1999), English rock singer and politician
[edit] T
- Yutaka Taniyama (1958), Japanese mathematician
- Tawfik Abu al-Huda Baja (1956), former prime minister of Jordan
- Sara Teasdale (1933), American poet
- Arthur Teele Jr. (2005), former Miami city commissioner; in the lobby of the Miami Herald
- Count Paul Teleki (1941), Hungarian statesman
- Lou Tellegen (1934), Dutch-born American film actor
- Luigi Tenco (1967), Italian singer-songwriter
- Jason Thirsk (1996), bassist for Pennywise
- Jesse B. Thomas (1853), U.S. Senator from Illinois
- Hunter S. Thompson (2005), American author, gunshot
- Ric Throssell (1999), Australian diplomat, writer
- Georg Tintner (1999), Austrian-born conductor active in Canada and Australia; jumped 11 stories when he was no longer able to conduct due to illness
- James Tiptree Jr (1987), American science fiction author, mercy-killed her terminally ill husband and then shot herself
- Marcus Titinius (42 BC), tribune 450 BC
- Li Tobler (1975), Swiss actress
- Ernst Toller (1939), German writer
- Mikhail Tomsky (1936), Russian revolutionary
- Wolfe Tone (1798), Irish independence leader
- John Kennedy Toole (1969), American novelist
- Silvanus Trevail (1903), Cornish architect, shot himself in the lavatory of a train
- Metod Trobec (2006), Slovenian killer
- Kokichi Tsuburaya (1968) Japanese Olympic marathon runner
- Marina Tsvetaeva (1941), Russian poetess and writer
- Kurt Tucholsky (1935), German journalist and satirist
- Alan Turing (1954), British mathematician and computer scientist
- John Walker Turnbull (1999), British Soldier
- Randy Turpin (1966), British world champion boxer
- Tore Tønne (2002), Norwegian Minister of Health and Social Affairs
[edit] U
- U;Nee 2007, South Korean Actress And Singer
- Ernst Udet (1941), German air ace and Luftwaffe inspector general
- Urmuz (1923), Romanian writer
- Gen Ushijima (1945), Japanese military commander who lost the Battle of Okinawa
[edit] V
- Vaishnavi (2006), Indian actress
- Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke (1941), American film director
- George Washington Vanderbilt III (1961), American yachtsman and scientific explorer
- Peter Van Eyck (1969), Dutch-UK film actor
- Vincent van Gogh (1890), Dutch painter, gunshot to chest
- Johannes Vares (1946), Estonian poet, doctor and politician
- Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (1954), President of Brazil, killed himself during impeachment trial
- Publius Quinctilius Varus (9), at the end of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
- Minnie Vautrin (1941), American missionary who helped the Chinese during the Nanking Massacre in 1937
- Lupe Vélez (1944), actress
- Baroness Mary Vetsera (1889), mistress of Crown Prince Rudolph - disputed: see Mayerling
- Tudor Vianu (1964), Romanian writer
- Sid Vicious, bassist of the Sex Pistols, heroine overdose
- Hervé Villechaize (1993), French actor
- Pierre-Charles Villeneuve (1806), French admiral who lost the Battle of Trafalgar
[edit] W
- Petri Walli (1995), Finnish rock musician
- Jeremy Michael Ward (2003), musician in The Mars Volta
- Stephen Ward (1963), U.K. osteopath who was caught up in the Profumo affair
- Peter Warlock (1930), U.K. composer (also known as Philip Heseltine)
- Andre Waters (2006), former American football player
- Doodles Weaver (1983), U.S. comedian, member of Spike Jones' City Slickers
- Gary Webb (2004), U.S. investigative reporter; death ruled as suicide from two gunshots
- Otto Weininger (1903), Austrian philosopher
- Ernst Weiß (1940), German author
- George Weldon (1963), U.K. conductor, died in South Africa
- Horace Wells (1848), dentist who pioneered the use of anesthesia
- Vince Welnick (2006), Grateful Dead keyboardist; founding member and keyboardist of the Tubes
- Fred West (1995), husband of convicted British killer Rosemary West Hanged himself in prison whilst awaiting trial on the same crimes
- James Whale (1957), U.K. film director
- Samuel Whitbread (1815), Whig politician
- Dan White (1985), assassin of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city manager Harvey Milk, carbon monoxide
- Charles White Whittlesey (1921), Medal of Honor Recipient, famed commander of WWI's Lost Battalion
- Paul Williams (1973), singer (Temptations)
- Percy Williams (1982), athlete
- Rozz Williams (1998), Musician, "Christian Death"
- Wendy O. Williams (1998), musician, The Plasmatics
- Don Wilson (1975), baseball player
- Greg Wilton (2000), Australian Federal politician
- John Gilbert Winant (1947), Governor of New Hampshire
- Sheree Winton (1976), U.K. actress and mother of Dale Winton
- Eduard Wirths (1945), military surgeon conducted research work at Auschwitz concentration camp
- Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (1939), Polish author, novelist, painter, philosopher
- David Witt (2006), father-in-law of 2006 Tour De France winner Floyd Landis
- Frank Wolff (1971), American actor
- Wally Wood (1981), cartoonist
- Andrew Wood (1990), American singer (Mother Love Bone), died of a heroin overdose
- Virginia Woolf (1941), British novelist, filled her pockets full of stones and walked into a river near her home.
[edit] Y
- Alfredo Yabrán (1998), Argentine businessman
- Kelly Yeomans (1997), school girl whose death sparked media controversy
- Sergei Yesenin (1925), poet, husband of Isadora Duncan
- Haile Yimenu (1991), former prime minister of Ethiopia
- Gig Young (1978), U.S. actor
- Barbara Yung (1985), Hong Kong actress and former Miss Hong Kong contestant.
[edit] Z
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1970)
- Marion Anthony Zioncheck (1936), congressman from Washington, jumped out of office building
- Mahmoud Zuabi (2000), Syrian prime minister shot himself on May 21, two months after resigning over corruption charges
- Stefan and Lotte Zweig (1942), Austrian novelist and his wife, barbital overdose
- Szmul Zygielbojm (1943), committed suicide to protest the indifference of Allied governments in the face of the Holocaust
[edit] Monarchs
- Saul King of Israel (1 Sam. 31:4)
- Shang Zhou (1046 BC), the last king of the Shang Dynasty of China
- Fusu (210 BC), son of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, and brother of the Second Emperor, Qin Er Shi, forced to commit suicide by a fake decree
- Qin Er Shi (207 BC), the Second Emperor of Qin dynasty China
- Cleopatra VII of Egypt (30 BC), last Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt
- Ludwig II of Bavaria (1886), drowning
- Nero (68), emperor of Rome (under duress)
- Otho (69), Roman emperor
- Boudica (1st century), Celtic chieftainess
- Decebal (106), Dacian king
- Clodius Albinus (197), Roman emperor
- Gordian I (238), Roman emperor
- Quintillus (270), Roman emperor
- Maximian (310), Roman emperor
- Tewodros II of Ethiopia (April 13,1868), Ethiopian Emperor
- Chongzhen (1644), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China
- Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva (2001), young King of Nepal, committed suicide after assassinating his father, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family
[edit] By Seppuku
- Minamoto no Yorimasa (1180)
- Oda Nobunaga (1582)
- Hojo Ujimasa (1590)
- Akou-Roushi (47 ronins), (1703)
- Yoshida Shoin (1859)
- Takechi Hanpeita (1865)
- Saigō Takamori (1876), Japanese politician
- General Nogi (1912)
- Korechika Anami, War Minister (1945)
- Hatazo Adachi (1947), Japanese general
- Kimitake Hiraoka, better known as Yukio Mishima (1970)
- Emilio Salgari (1911), Italian writer
[edit] Unknown before death
The following is a list of people who were not famous while alive, but who became notable subsequent to their suicide
- Thomas Hamilton (1996), killed 16 five year olds and their teacher in the Dunblane massacre.
- Eric Harris (1999), Columbine High School massacre
- Dylan Klebold (1999), Columbine High School massacre
- Friedrich Leibacher (2001), Killer of 14 in Zug massacre
- Jeff Weise (2005), Red Lake High shooter
- Joel Henry Hinrichs III (2005), detonated suicide bomb at the University of Oklahoma
- Kimveer Gill (2006), Dawson College shooting
- Malachi Ritscher (2006), burned himself to death as an anti-war protest on Chicago's Kennedy expressway
- Roland Weißelberg (2006) Lutheran vicar set himself alight in the German town of Erfurt, where Martin Luther took his monastic vows in 1505, to warn against the danger of the Islamization of Europe
[edit] Possible suicides
The following is a list of people whose cause of death is disputed, or whose intention to commit suicide is doubtful.
[edit] A
- George Washington Adams (1829), Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and the son of John Quincy Adams. Adams drowned after going overboard. It is generally assumed that he committed suicide.
- Pier Angeli (1971), Italian-born actress, died of an overdose of barbiturates. Speculation that her death was a suicide has never been officially confirmed.
[edit] B
- Andreas Baader (1977), leader of the German revolutionary organization RAF, founder of Baader-Meinhof gang. His suicide by gunshot to the head whilst in prison is questionable.
- Gaetano Bresci (1901), Italian anarchist, assassin of King Umberto I (officially suicide, but he was found strangled)
[edit] C
- Kurt Cobain (1994), Lead singer of grunge band Nirvana by shotgun wound. There has been a very large speculation that Courtney Love ordered Cobain’s death, with instructions to make his death appear to be a suicide; however, it has not been initiated by the Seattle police due to a lack of concern, open witnesses, and concrete evidence.
[edit] H
- Michael Hutchence (1997), Australian singer with rock group INXS, hanged himself in a hotel room; officially ruled as suicide, but widely believed to be a case of autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong.
- Bohumil Hrabal (1997), Czechoslovakia writer. He died when he fell from a fifth floor hospital where he was apparently trying to feed pigeons.
[edit] K
- Frida Kahlo, (1954), Mexican painter. Supposedly died of a pulmonary embolism, but no autopsy was performed, and many are convinced that she committed suicide.
- Douglas Kenney (1980), writer, producer, actor of National Lampoon Magazine and Animal House. Jumped, fell or was pushed off cliff in Hawaii. Composed note "These are the best days I've chosen to ignore" in hotel room.
[edit] M
- Jan Masaryk (1948), Czech statesman, found dead in the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry below his bathroom window. Though the initial 'investigation' stated that he committed suicide by jumping out of the window, it is now commonly believed that he was defenestrated by Communists.
[edit] P
- Pontius Pilate (36), Roman governor and judge of Jesus of Nazareth; Eusebius quotes some accounts which relate that Pilate committed suicide, but this is considered to be merely a legend.
[edit] S
- Romy Schneider (1982), Austrian actress. Schneider began drinking alcohol in excess after the sudden death, in July 1981, of her 14-year-old son, who was found impaled on a fence at the home of his stepfather's parents. When she was found dead in her apartment in Paris in May 1982, it was suggested that she had committed suicide by taking a lethal cocktail of alcohol and sleeping pills. However, no post-mortem examination was carried out, and she was declared to have died from cardiac arrest.
- Elizabeth Shin (2000), MIT student, died from burns inflicted by a fire in her dormitory room after sending emails to faculty members saying that she was depressed and wanted to kill herself.
[edit] T
- Saigō Takamori (1876), Japanese samurai, injured in battle, might have committed suicide, or been killed by comrades rather than being killed or captured by the enemy.
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1893), Russian composer. Generally assumed to have died of cholera, one account claims that he committed suicide by taking arsenic following an attempt to blackmail him over his homosexuality. Some believe that he wrote his Sixth Symphony as his own Requiem.
[edit] W
- Kenneth Williams (1988), English actor, barbiturate overdose. Williams was taking medication for back pain and stomach trouble, which he referred to in the last sentence in his diary, concluding "oh — what's the bloody point?". The coroner recorded an open verdict.
[edit] Suicides in fiction
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
[edit] A
- John Abruzzi (Prison Break), suicide by police
[edit] B
- Emma Bovary (Madame Bovary), arsenic poisoning
- Richard Brown (The Hours), defenestration
[edit] C
- Billy Canfield (Last Man Standing), suicide by shotgun
- Juliet Capulet (Romeo and Juliet), knife wounds
- Ryan Chappelle (24 (TV series)), allows Jack Bauer to shoot him to prevent a bio-weapon release on Day 3
- Marjorie "Maude" Chardin (Harold and Maude), drug overdose on 80th birthday
- Harold Chasen (Harold and Maude), various faked suicides throughout film, including hanging, gunshot, immolation, severing of the hand, drowning, seppuku, and driving a hearse off a cliff
- Vera Claythorne (Ten Little Indians), hanging
- Quentin Compson (The Sound and the Fury), drowning
- Clyde Connolly (Dream Team), jumped off of the Dragons Lair Stadium
- Phil Connors (Groundhog Day), various including wounds from gunshots and knives, poisoning, freezing, hanging, electrocution and immolation
- John Constantine (Various comic books and a movie) slit his wrists
- Nadine Cross, (The Stand), jumps off the balcony (depicted as suicide in miniseries; in the book it is depicted as murder by Flagg)
[edit] D
- Edmond Dantès (The Count of Monte Cristo), attempted starvation
- Maya Driscoll (24 (TV series)), daughter of CTU Director Erin Driscoll slits her wrists on Day 4.
[edit] E
- Anne Ervin (The Chrysalids), hanging
[edit] F
- Father Time (Jude the Obscure), hanged himself
- Frankenstein's monster, jumped into a frozen lake
- Fuyubachi ("Happy Family Planning" episode of Paranoia Agent), overdosing or carbon monoxide poisoning
[edit] G
- Hans Giebenrath (Beneath the Wheel, Hermann Hesse), drowning (suspicious circumstances)
- Seymour Glass (Nine Stories (Salinger)), gunshot wound
[edit] H
- Brooks Hatlen, (The Shawshank Redemption), hanging
- Sir Hercules (Collected Short Stories (Huxley)), slashing of wrists
- Seth "Cherry" Hoffner, hanging
- Waring Hudsucker (The Hudsucker Proxy), jumping out the window of a building
[edit] J
- Javert (Les Miserables), jumping off bridge
- Kamome ("Happy Family Planning" episode of Paranoia Agent), jumping or carbon monoxide posioning
- John the Savage (Brave New World), hangs himself after realizing he has succumbed to everything he detests in the futuristic society (plus his isolation from Bernard and Helmholtz, the death of his mother, Linda)
- Johnny (Johnny The Homicidal Maniac, a comic book by Jhonen Vasquez) Gunshot wound from a robotic arm.
- Dayna Jurgens, (The Stand), impales herself on glass to escape Flagg
[edit] K
- Anna Karenina (Anna Karenina), by throwing herself in the path of a train
[edit] L
- Harold Lauder (The Stand), shot himself
- Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence ("Full Metal Jacket"), shot himself
- Bonnie Lisbon (The Virgin Suicides), hangs herself
- Cecilia Lisbon (The Virgin Suicides), jumps from second story window onto spiked fence
- Lux Lisbon (The Virgin Suicides), carbon monoxide poisoning
- Mary Lisbon (The Virgin Suicides), inhales gas by placing her head in the oven
- Therese Lisbon (The Virgin Suicides), over-doses on sleeping pills
- Willy Loman(Death Of A Salesman), exact method not specified, car related
[edit] M
- Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) - the actual information about her demise is nebulous
- Madame Akkikuyu (The Crystal Prison), throws self on bonfire
- Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (A Few Good Men), self-inflicted gunshot
- Habib Marwan (24 (TV series)), falls from a multi-story parking garage to escape Jack Bauer on Day 4
- George Mason (24 character) (24 (TV series)), nuclear explosion on Day 2
- Eden McCain (Heroes), self-inflicted gunshot wound
- Julia Miliken (24 (TV series)), self-inflicted gunshot to head after murdering Sherry Palmer in Day 3
- Fernand Mondego (The Count of Monte Cristo), gunshot wounds
- Romeo Montague (Romeo and Juliet), poisoning
- Owen Meany (A Prayer For Owen Meany), grenade
[edit] N
- Nesrine [The real life]
- Samuel Norton (The Shawshank Redemption), self-inflicted gunshot
[edit] O
My Antonia, Antonia's Father
[edit] P
- Charles "Haywire" Patoshik (Prison Break), jumping
- Edna Pontellier (The Awakening), drowning
[edit] Q
- Quentin (The Sound and the Fury), drowning
- Quinn (Star Trek: Voyager episode Death Wish), poison
[edit] R
- Rumpelstiltskin ripping himself in two halfs
- Radzinsky (LOST): Former Station 3: The Swan operator. According to Kelvin Joe Innman, he put a shotgun in his mouth while Kelvin was asleep.
[edit] S
- Eva Smith (An Inspector Calls), poisoning
- Saga; Saint Seiya Character,
- Terrence Steadman (Prison Break), self-inflicted gunshot wound
- Gary Searle (Give A Boy A Gun), self-inflicted gunshot wound
[edit] T
- Beatrice Taylor (Ten Little Indians), drowns herself in the river
- Capt. Clark Terrell (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), self-inflicted phaser shot
[edit] V
- Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca (Angels and Demons), self-immolation
- Veronica Harnden (Children of the Dust), drug overdose taken to end her suffering from radiation sickness. Her son, William, and stepdaughter, Sarah, later die in the same way.
- Heloise de Villefort (The Count of Monte Cristo), poisoning
[edit] W
- Judge Lawrence Wargrave (Ten Little Indians), shot himself
- Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther), shot wounds (caused by borrowed pistols)
- George Wilson (The Great Gatsby), gunshot wounds
- Dallas Winston (The Outsiders), suicide by police
- Frank Wolff (Explorers on the Moon, Tintin comic adventure), jettisoned himself out of a rocket in outer space.
