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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

For incidents of suicide depicted in fiction, see List of suicides in fiction.

See also: List of famous deaths by accidental drug overdose, Lists of people by cause of death, and Category:Suicides by method

The following are lists of notable people who intentionally terminated their own lives. 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.

Suicides

A

• Chris Acland (1996), British drummer (Lush), hanging
• Hatazo Adachi (1947), Japanese general, seppuku.
• Robert Adams, Jr. (1906), congressman from Pennsylvania, shot himself after heavy losses in stock speculation
• Stanley Adams (actor) (1977), American character actor, gunshot to the head
• Stuart Adamson (2001), Scottish singer (Big Country, Skids), self-strangulation after alcohol ingestion; possibly unintentional
• 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)
• Ahn Jae-hwan (2008), South Korean actor, carbon monoxide poisoning
• Sergei Akhromeyev (1991), Soviet military commander who led an unsuccessful coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, hanging
• Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1927), Japanese writer (author of Rashomon), barbital overdose
• Clodius Albinus (197), Roman emperor, killed himself after a defeat in battle
• Ross Alexander (1937), actor, gunshot
• Michael Alfonso, a.k.a. Mike Awesome (2007), professional wrestler, hanging
• Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1899), member of the British Royal Family, shot himself
• Leandro Alem (1896), Argentine politician, founder of the Radical Civic Union, gunshot to the head
• Salvador Allende (1973), president of Chile (elected 1970), and uncle of renowned author Isabel Allende; allegedly shot himself during a coup d'état against his regime orchestrated by General Augusto Pinochet — some sources allege that he was killed
• Jeff Alm (1993), NFL player, gunshot
• Jason Altom (1998), Ph.D. student, ingested potassium cyanide
• Jean Améry (1978), Austrian writer; overdose of sleeping pills
• Korechika Anami, War Minister (1945), seppuku
• Forrest Howard Anderson (1989), Governor of Montana, gunshot
• 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; self-immolation
• Roger Angleton (1998), murderer, cutting or hanging
• Mark Antony (30 BC), Roman politician and general; stabbed himself
• Marshall Applewhite (1997), leader of Heaven's Gate religious cult, overdose
• Hubert Aquin (1977), Canadian author; gunshot
• Diane Arbus (1971), American photographer; barbiturate overdose and slashed wrists
• Reinaldo Arenas (1990), Cuban-American artist and writer; drug and alcohol overdose
• Pedro Armendáriz, (1963), Mexican actor; gunshot
• Edwin Armstrong (1954), U.S. inventor of FM radio; jumped from a 13th floor window
• Nikolas Asimos (1988), Greek rock musician; hanging
• George Ault (1948), American painter; drowning
• Pekka-Eric Auvinen (2007), Jokela High School shooter, self-inflicted gunshot to the head
• Albert Ayler (1970), American jazz saxophonist; jumped into New York City's East River

B

• Nikki Bacharach (2007), Daughter of Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson, suffocated using plastic bag and helium
• Chet Baker (1988), Jazz musician, jumped off his hotel balcony
• James Robert Baker (1997), American writer
• Albert Ballin (1918), German businessman, overdose of sleeping pills
• José Manuel Balmaceda (1891), President of Chile, gunshot
• Robert Hayward Barlow (1951), writer and anthropologist, barbiturate overdose
• Isobel Barnett (1980), British TV personality, electrocution
• Don "Red" Barry (1980), actor (Adventures of Red Ryder), gunshot
• Diana Barrymore (1960), U.S. actress and writer, drug and alcohol overdose
• Gert Bastian (1992), German military officer and politician, gunshot
• J. Clifford Baxter (2002), Enron vice-chairman, gunshot
• Thomas McKee Bayne (1894), U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot
• Scotty Beckett (1968), child actor, Our Gang films, cause of death inconclusive
• Charles Eugène 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", overdose
• Peter Bellamy (1991), English folk singer
• Brenda Benet (1982), actress and former wife of Bill Bixby, gunshot
• Ota Benga (1916), African Pygmy put on "display" in United States, gunshot
• Walter Benjamin (1940), German cultural theorist, overdose morphine pills
• Jill Bennett (1990), British film actress
• Chris Benoit (2007), professional wrestler, murdered his wife and 7-year-old son and later hanged himself in his weight room
• Pierre Bérégovoy (1993), French Prime Minister, gunshot
• Hans Berger (1941), German physician and inventor of electroencephalography, hanging
• Mary Kay Bergman (1999), American voice actress, gunshot
• Ricky Berry (1989), NBA player for the Sacramento Kings, gunshot
• John Berryman (1972), American poet, jumped from bridge
• Bruno Bettelheim (1990), American psychoanalyst
• Robert Billings (1986), Canadian poet, drowned
• Jens Bjørneboe (1976), Norwegian author, hanging
• Clara Blandick (1962), actress, best known as Auntie Em from The Wizard of Oz, sleeping pill overdose and suffocation
• Kenny Blatchford (1933), Canadian politician, drowning
• Ludwig Boltzmann (1906), physicist, hanging
• Jeremy Michael Boorda (1996), Chief of Naval Operations, US Navy
• Tadeusz Borowski (1951), Polish writer and concentration camp survivor, asphyxiation
• Georges Boulanger (1891), French politician and general, gunshot
• Tommy Boyce (1994), with Bobby Hart, songwriter for The Monkees, gunshot
• Karin Boye (1941), Swedish poet, sleeping pill overdose
• Charles Boyer (1978), film star, Seconal overdose
• Camilo Castelo Branco (1890), Portuguese writer, gunshot
• Jonathan Brandis (2003), American actor, hanging
• Cheyenne Brando (1995), daughter of Marlon Brando, hanging
• Mike Brant (1974), pop singer, jumped from a window.
• Eva Braun (1945), mistress and then wife of Adolf Hitler, cyanide
• Richard Brautigan (1984), American writer, gunshot
• Herman Brood (2001), Dutch musician and painter, jumped from roof
• Barry Brown (1978), actor and writer, gunshot
• 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, fell on sword after failing to find volunteer to kill him
• Eustace Budgell (1737), friend of Samuel Johnson, threw himself out of a boat
• Bernard Buffet (1999), French painter ('The Crucifixion'), suffocation
• Rembrandt Bugatti (1916), Italian sculptor, natural gas
• Dan Burros (1965), Jewish Neo-Nazi, gunshot

C

• Andres Caicedo (1977), Colombian novelist, drug overdose
• Capucine (1990), French actress, jumped out of window
• Arthur Edmund Carewe (1937), American actor, gunshot
• Wallace Hume Carothers (1937), world renowned chemist, cyanide
• Don Carpenter (1995), American novelist, gunshot
• Dora Carrington (1932), artist, gunshot
• Kevin Carter (1994), award-winning South African photographer and member of the Bang-Bang Club, carbon monoxide
• Tim Carter (2008), British footballer, hanging
• Hugh Casey (1951), baseball player, gunshot
• Joseph Daniel 'Danny' Casolaro (1991), journalist, slashed wrists, disputed
• Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1968), writer
• Gaius Cassius Longinus (42 BC), Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar, ordered his freedman to slay him
• Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), British politician, cut his throat
• Cato the younger (46 BC), Roman republican statesman, stabbed himself with his own sword
• Ugo Cavallero (1943), Italian Field Marshal, gunshot
• Paul Celan (1970), Romanian poet, drowning
• Valerie Chacon (1982), wife of Bobby Chacon, gunshot
• Pauline Chan (2002), Hong Kong actress, jumped off building
• Iris Chang (2004), Chinese-American author, gunshot
• Kathy Change (1996), American performance artist and political activist, self-immolation
• Claude Chappe (1805), French inventor, threw himself down a well
• Thomas Chatterton (1770), English poet, arsenic
• Leslie Cheung (2003), Hong Kong movie star and singer, jumped off building
• Vere Gordon Childe (1957), Australian archaeologist and historian, jumped off Govett's Leap in the Blue Mountains
• Seung-Hui Cho (2007), shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre; turned his gun on himself after killing 32 people
• Choi Jin-sil (2008), South Korean actress, hanging
• Chongzhen Emperor of China (1644), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered his household to commit suicide, then hanged himself
• Edwin Pearce Christy, (1862), American entertainer, founder of the Christy Minstrels, threw himself from window
• Christine Chubbuck (1974), American television journalist, shot herself in the head on live TV after reading the news
• Chung Mong-hun (2003), Korean businessman, chairman of Hyundai Asan, jumped out of building
• Diana Churchill (1963), UK social worker, eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, barbiturate overdose
• Jeremiah Clarke (1707), composer of Prince of Denmark's March (Trumpet Voluntary), shot himself
• Alasdair Clayre (1985), British academic, writer, broadcaster and singer, jumped in front of train
• Charles Clegg (1979), American author, photographer and railroad enthusiast
• Cleopatra (30 BC), Queen of Egypt, snake bite, disputed
• Charmian Clift (1969), Australian writer, wife of George Johnston, barbiturate overdose
• Robert Clive (1774), British conqueror of India and founder of the Empire, cut throat with pen-knife
• Kurt Cobain (1994), Lead singer of Nirvana, shotgun
• Sid Collins (1977), radio voice of the Indianapolis 500, hanged himself after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Ray Combs (1996), former host of popular game show Family Feud, hanging
• Tarka Cordell (2008), British musician, hanging
• Pamela Courson (1974), longtime girlfriend of Jim Morrison, unknown whether she accidentally or purposefully overdosed
• F. W. S. Craig (1989), UK election expert
• Leighton Crandle (1995), UK musician / recording artist
• Hart Crane (1932), American poet; jumped from a boat
• Darby Crash (1980), American songwriter, singer of the Germs, intentional heroin overdose
• René Crevel (1935), French writer, gassed himself
• Richard Croft (1818), obstetrician, shot himself
• Dennis Crosby (1991), actor, son of Bing Crosby, gunshot
• Harry Crosby (1929), writer, publisher
• Lindsay Crosby (1989), actor, son of Bing Crosby, gunshot
• Géza Csáth (1919), Hungarian writer, poison
• Andrew Cunanan (1997), killer of Gianni Versace and four others, gunshot
• Will Cuppy (1949), American writer, humorist, sleeping pill overdose
• Ian Curtis (1980), lead singer and songwriter of Joy Division, hanging
• Adam Czerniakow (1943), Polish-Jewish head of the Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat, poisoned himself rather than hand over children for gassing.

D

• Stig Dagerman (1954), Swedish author
• Dalida (1987), French singer, barbiturate overdose
• Monika Dannemann (1996), girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix, carbon monoxide
• Bella Darvi (1971), actress, natural gas
• Edward Davidson (2008), American spammer and convicted criminal, gunshot
• Cliff Davies (2008), British-American drummer, gunshot
• Dazai Osamu (1948), Japanese novelist, drowning
• Guy Debord (1994), French philosopher, member of Situationist International, gunshot
• Decebalus (106), Dacian king, cut his throat to avoid being exhibited as a Roman prisoner
• Jeanine Deckers (1985), Belgian religious, known as The Singing Nun, barbiturate and alcohol overdose
• Delphine Delamare (1848), French woman, the basis for Flaubert's Madame Bovary, cyanide
• 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
• Angela Devi (2006), American adult model, suicide by asphyxiation
• Patrick Dewaere (1982), French actor, gunshot
• Rudolf Diesel (1913), inventor of the Diesel engine, jumped from boat
• Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (2001), young King of Nepal, shot himself after assassinating his father, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family.
• Thomas Disch (2008), American poet and novelist, shooting
• Hugo Distler (1942), German composer, gas
• Desmond Donnelly (1974), British politician and journalist, barbiturate and alcohol overdose
• Terence Donovan (1996), English celebrity photographer, hanging
• Patric Doonan (1958), British actor
• Michael Dorris (1997), American writer, drug overdose and suffocation
• Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (1983), former president of Cuba, gunshot
• Chris Doty (2006), Canadian filmmaker and playwright, hanging
• Charmaine Dragun (2007), Australian newsreader, jumped from 'The Gap'
• Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1945), French novelist
• Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb (2004), American heart surgeon, oxycodone overdose
• Micke Dubois (2005), Swedish comedian, hanging
• Thich Quang Duc (1963), Vietnamese Buddhist monk, self-immolation
• Pete Duel (1971), American actor, gunshot
• K. Sello Duiker (2005), South African author, hanging
• Davor Dujmović (1999), Yugoslavian-Roma actor, hanging
• R. Budd Dwyer (1987), American politician, shot himself on live television

E

• George Eastman (1932), inventor of the Eastman Kodak Camera, gunshot
• Paul Ehrenfest (1933), physicist, made major contributions to quantum mechanics, gunshot
• Jim Ellison (1996), Musician, carbon-monoxide poisoning
• Peg Entwistle (1932), Welsh-born actress, jumped from the "Hollywood" sign
• Tom Evans (1983), musician and member of Badfinger, hanging
• Merritt A. Edson (1955), Medal of Honor recipient for actions at Guadalcanal, gas

F

• Angus Fairhurst (2008), British artist, hanging
• Richard Farnsworth (2000), U.S. actor, gunshot
• Justin Fashanu (1998), British footballer, hanging
• René Favaloro (2000), Argentinian doctor, creator of coronary artery bypass surgery, gunshot
• Paul Federn (1950), Austrian-American psychoanalyst
• Jeff Fehring (2008), Australian footballer
• Andrea Feldman (1972), American actress and Warhol superstar, jumped out of building
• Hans Fischer (1945), A Nobel Prize winning German Chemist
• George Fiske (1918), American photographer, shot himself
• Robert FitzRoy (1865), Governor-General of New Zealand, Royal Navy officer, Nephew of the Viscount Castlereagh, razor
• Ed Flanders (1995), American actor (St. Elsewhere), gunshot
• Frederick Fleet (1965), Titanic lookout who first spotted the iceberg, hanging
• John Gould Fletcher (1950), Pulitzer Prize winning poet, drowning
• Bernard Floud (1967), UK Member of Parliament, gas and barbiturates
• James V. Forrestal (1949), former U.S. Secretary of Defense, fall from window, possible homicide
• Dédé Fortin (2000), leader and singer of Québec band Les Colocs, stabbed himself
• Vincent Foster (1993), Deputy White House Counsel, gunshot
• Wade Frankum (1991), spree shooter of Strathfield Massacre, gunshot
• Sigmund Freud (1939), founder of psychoanalysis, morphine overdose
• John Friedrich (1991), Australian businessman and fraud, gunshot
• André Fortin (2000), Quebec singer and songwriter, seppuku
• Misao Fujimura (1903), Japanese high school student, jumping

G

• Philip Gale (1998), American software developer, jumped out of window
• Hughie Gallacher (1957), Scottish footballer, threw himself in front of a train
• Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1993), former president of Georgia, gunshot, disputed
• Ted Gärdestad (1997), Swedish pop musician, jumped in front of train
• Dave Garroway (1982), television host, gunshot
• Romain Gary (1980), Russian-French novelist, film director and diplomat, gunshot
• Danny Gatton (1994), American guitarist, gunshot
• Michel Gauquelin (1991), French psychologist and astrology researcher
• Martha Gellhorn (1998), American author and war correspondent, poison
• Kostas Georgakis (1970), student, self-immolation as a protest to the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
• Peter George (1966), British author (Red Alert)
• Mark Gertler (1939), British artist
• Henri Giffard (1882), French aeronautical engineer
• Michael Gilden (2006), American actor, hanging
• Kimveer Gill (2006), Dawson College shooting, shot himself after being wounded by police
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1935), American feminist and author (Herland & The Yellow Wallpaper), inhaled chloroform
• Kurt Gödel (1978), German logician and mathematician, intentional self-starvation
• Joseph Goebbels (1945), German Nazi leader, gunshot
• Hermann Göring (1946), German Nazi leader, cyanide poisoning hours before he was due to be hanged
• Julen Goikoetxea (2006), Spanish cyclist, jumped off balcony
• Fritha Goodey (2004), British actress, stabbed self in chest
• Gordian I (238), Roman emperor, hanged himself with his belt
• Adam Lindsay Gordon (1870), Australian poet, gunshot
• Arshile Gorky (1948), Armenian painter, hanging
• Anders Göthberg (2008), Swedish guitarist, jumped from Västerbron, Stockholm.
• Eddie Graham (1985), American professional wrestler, gunshot
• Shauna Grant (1984), American adult film actress, gunshot
• Spalding Gray (2004), American playwright, drowned in Atlantic after jumping off Staten Island Ferry
• Richard Green (1983), boxing referee
• Peter Gregg (1980), race car driver, gunshot
• Robert von Greim (1945), German Luftwaffe air marshal, cyanide
• Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (1770), French violinist and composer, stabbed himself
• Antonio Guzmán Fernández (1982), serving president of the Dominican Republic, gunshot

H

• Clara Immerwahr Haber (1915) German chemical engineer and wife of Dr. Fritz Haber, gunshot
• Jerry Hadley (2007), American operatic tenor, gunshot
• Ryan Halligan (2003), American teen cyber-bullying victim, hanging
• Kenneth Halliwell (1967), British writer, lover and murderer of Joe Orton, sleeping pill overdose
• Mitch Halpern (2000), American boxing referee, gunshot
• Pete Ham (1975), Welsh musician and member of Badfinger, hanging
• Rusty Hamer (1990), American former child actor (The Danny Thomas Show), gunshot
• Lois Hamilton (1999), American actress, model, author, aviatrix, sleeping pill overdose and suffocation
• Thomas Hamilton (1996), killed 16 five-year-olds and their teacher in the Dunblane massacre, gunshot
• Walter Hammerl (1981), Singer with Austrian band Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung.
• Tony Hancock (1968), British comedian, overdose of vodka and barbiturates.
• St. John Hankin (1909), British poet, drowning
• Edward Allen Hannegan (1859), U.S. Congressman from Indiana, morphine overdose
• Hannibal (182 BC), Carthaginian military commander, poison
• Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1922), British politician, killed himself after public exposure as a pedophile
• James Harden-Hickey (1898), U.S. eccentric and author of a book on the appeal of suicide, morphine overdose
• Mary Hardy (1985), Australian TV personality (found dead in the bath and was presumed to have committed suicide)
• Eric Harris (1999), one of the shooters in the Columbine High School massacre, gunshot
• Michael D. Harter (1896), U.S. Congressman from Ohio
• Brynn Hartman (1998), wife and murderer of actor Phil Hartman, gunshot
• Elizabeth Hartman (1987), U.S. actress, jumped from window
• Arihiro Hase (1996), Japanese voice actor, jumped from window
• Donny Hathaway (1979), American soul musician, jumped from window
• 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, barbiturate overdose
• Brandi Hawbaker (2008), American poker player
• Benjamin Haydon (1846), British painter
• Jeanne Hébuterne (1920), painter, partner of artist Amedeo Modigliani, jumped out of window
• Sadegh Hedayat (1951), Iranian writer, gas
• John Heddle (1989), British politician
• Marvin Heemeyer (2004), American vigilante, gunshot
• Ernest Hemingway (1961), American novelist, gunshot
• Margaux Hemingway (1996), American actress and model, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, phenobarbital overdose
• Benjamin Hendrickson (2006), American actor (As The World Turns), gunshot
• George Hennard (1991), American spree-killer (Luby's Massacre), gunshot
• James Leo Herlihy (1993), U.S. novelist (Midnight Cowboy), sleeping pill overdose
• Willard Hershberger (1940), Cincinnati Reds catcher, slashed wrists
• Rudolf Hess (1987), Nazi leader, self-asphyxiation, disputed
• Paul Hester (2005), Australian musician, drummer for Split Enz and Crowded House, self-strangulation
• George W. Hill (1934), American film director
• Heinrich Himmler (1945), German SS leader, cyanide
• Joel Henry Hinrichs III (2005), detonated suicide bomb at the University of Oklahoma
• Adolf Hitler (1945), leader of Nazi Germany, gunshot/cyanide
• Abbie Hoffman (1989), U.S. political activist and political demonstrator, phenobarbital overdose, disputed
• Don Hollenbeck (1954), CBS news anchor, inhalation of natural gas
• Doug Hopkins (1993), American musician and founding member of rock group Gin Blossoms, gunshot
• Elmyr de Hory (1976), Hungarian art forger, sleeping pill overdose
• Robert E. Howard (1936), American creator of pulp heroes Soloman Kane, King Kull, and Conan the Barbarian, gunshot
• Ivan Hribar (1941), Yugoslav politician, drowned himself in a river
• Willis Nathaniel Huggins (1941), American historian and activist, drowned in Hudson river
• Danton Hughes (2001), Australian sculptor, son of Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes, gas
• Suad Husni (2001) Egyptian actress, jumped off balcony
• Michael Hutchence (1997), lead singer of Australian rock band INXS, hanging, disputed
• Phyllis Hyman (1995), American singer, overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills
• Robin Hyde (1939), New Zealand writer and poet, benzedrin poisoning

I

• Youssef Idilbi (2008), Dutch actor, jumped from the roof of a building
• William Inge (1973), U.S. playwright (Picnic, Come Back, Little Sheba, Bus Stop, Splendor in the Grass), carbon monoxide
• Juzo Itami (1997), Japanese actor and film director, jumped off building
• Bruce Edwards Ivins (2008), American microbiologist suspected of the 2001 anthrax attacks, overdose

J

• Jimmy "J" (2008), American record producer, jumped from ledge
• Alice de Janzé (1941), American heiress, gunshot
• Vittorio Jano (1965), automobile design engineer
• Richard Jeni (2007), comedian, gunshot
• Clayne Jeffs, nephew of Warren Jeffs, committed suicide with a firearm after admitting that Warren Jeffs had sexually assaulted him as a child.
• Anson Jones (1858), doctor, businessman, congressman, and the last president of the Republic of Texas, gunshot
• 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, gunshot
• Alex Jordan (1995), American adult film actress, hanging
• Timothy Jordan II (2005), The All-American Rejects' touring keyboardist
• Nafisa Joseph (2004), Femina India Universe 1997, Miss Universe 1997 semi-finalist and MTV VJ, hanging
• Luc Jouret (1994), homeopath, Belgian cult leader
• Jung Da Bin (2007), South Korean Actress, hanging
• Claude Jutra (1986), Quebec film actor, writer, and director, drowning

K

• Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (1918), Cossack leader during the Russian Civil War
• Sarah Kane (1999), British playwright, hanging
• Kostas Karyotakis (1928), Greek poet, gunshot
• Romas Kalanta (1972), Lithuanian, self-immolation after speaking out against Soviet government
• Yasunari Kawabata (1972), Japanese writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, gas
• Kawakami Bizan (1908), Japanese novelist
• Brian Keith (1997), American actor (Family Affair), gunshot
• Dr. David Kelly (2003), British scientist, source of BBC story about the September Dossier, overdose and slashed wrist
• Samuel Austin Kendall (1933), congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot
• Levi Kereama (2008), Singer; Australian Idol contestant, jumped from a highrise
• Preston King (1865), Senator from New York, leapt from ferryboat in New York Harbor
• James Arthur Kjelgaard (1959), American outdoorsman and author of young adult literature
• Heinrich von Kleist (1811), German dramatist and poet, gunshot
• Jochen Klepper (1942), German writer, poet and journalist, gas
• Dylan Klebold (1999), One of the teen gunmen of the Columbine High School Massacre, gunshot
• Günther von Kluge (1944), German Field Marshal, cyanide
• Ivan Korade (2008), Croatian general and murder suspect, gunshot
• Fletcher Knebel (1993), U.S. novelist (Seven Days in May), sleeping pill overdose
• William F. Knowland (1974), former Senate Majority Leader, gunshot
• Sándor Kocsis (1979), Hungarian soccer player, jumped out of window, disputed
• Arthur Koestler (1983), journalist, novelist, political activist and social philosopher, overdose
• Sarah Kofman (1994), French philosopher
• Hannelore Kohl (2001), wife of German ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl, sleeping pill overdose
• Takako Konishi (2001), Japanese office worker whose death was mistakenly reported to involve the movie Fargo, overdose
• Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1945), Japanese war criminal, cyanide
• Alexandros Korizis (1941), Greek prime minister, gunshot
• Ruslana Korshunova (2008), fashion model, jumped from building
• Jerzy Kosinski (1991), Polish-American author, barbiturate overdose and suffocation
• Philip Taylor Kramer (1995), rock musician (guitarist of Iron Butterfly) and physicist
• Louis Krages (2001), German race car driver and businessman (raced under the name of "John Winter"), gunshot
• Ivar Kreuger (1932) Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist, "The Match King", gunshot
• Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (1945), Nazi official during WWII, gunshot
• Friedrich Alfred Krupp (1902), German industrialist, committed suicide when his homosexuality was revealed.

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, gunshot
• Karen Lancaume (2005), French adult film star; overdose on sleeping pills
• Carole Landis (1948), American actress; overdose of seconal
• James H. Lane (1866), senator from Kansas, general in Civil War, gunshot
• Hans Langsdorff (1939), captain of the Admiral Graf Spee, gunshot
• Napoleon Lapathiotis (1944), Greek writer, gunshot
• Florence Lawrence (1938), American film actress, poison
• George P. Lawrence (1917), representative from Massachusetts, jumped out of building to death due to stress caused by World War I
• Adam Ledwoń (2008), Polish footballer, hanging
• Lee Eun-ju (2005), Korean actress, hanging
• Jon Lee (2002), drummer of the band Feeder, hanging
• Lee Kyung Hae (2003) South Korean farmer and activist, stabbed himself at a protest
• Megan Leigh (1990), American erotic dancer and porn star, gunshot
• Marc Lepine (1989), Canada's most prolific spree killer; gunshot
• Primo Levi (1987), Italian author and Auschwitz survivor, jumped out of building
• Robert Ley (1945), Nazi war criminal, hanging
• Friedrich Leibacher (2001), killer of 14 in Zug massacre, gunshot
• Max Linder, (1925), French actor
• Vachel Lindsay (1931), American poet, drank a bottle of Lysol
• 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
• Diane Linkletter (1969), daughter of Art Linkletter, jumped out of window
• Friedrich List (1846), German economist
• Jesse Lauriston Livermore (1940), US stock trader, gunshot
• Mikael Ljungberg (2004), Swedish wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
• Peter Llewelyn-Davies (1960), UK publisher who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, threw himself in front of a train
• Ross Lockridge, Jr. (1948}, U.S. novelist, author of Raintree County, asphyxiation via car fumes
• Philip Loeb (1955), blacklisted American actor, barbiturate overdose
• Mark Lombardi (2000), U.S. artist whose art described international white-collar crime networks, hanging
• Jack London (1916), U.S. novelist, overdose of morphine and atropine (disputed by his widow)
• Terry Long (2005), former NFL player, ingested antifreeze
• 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
• Malcolm Lowry (1957), British writer, sleeping pill overdose, disputed as to accidental
• Gang Lu (1991), physics graduate student and mass murderer at the University of Iowa, gunshot
• Gherasim Luca (1994), Romanian surrealist, jumped into the Seine
• Lucan (65), Roman poet, fatally cut himself
• Ron Luciano (1995), baseball umpire, carbon monoxide
• Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1918), Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist
• Roman Lyashenko (2003), professional hockey player, hanging
• Frankie Lymon (1968), singer (Why do Fools Fall in Love?), drug overdose

M

• Billy Mackenzie (1997), lead singer of 1980s pop group The Associates, overdose
• Richard Manuel, (1986), singer, multi-instrumentalist, member of The Band, hanged himself while on tour in Florida
• Simone Mareuil, (1954), French film actress, self-immolation
• Andrew Martinez (2006), nude activist, suffocation by plastic bag
• Magnentius (353), Roman usurper, fell on his sword
• Anton Maiden (2003), Swedish singer
• Willy Mairesse (1969), Belgian race car driver
• Sándor Márai (1989), Hungarian writer and journalist, gunshot
• Harry Martinson (1978), Swedish author, by scissors
• Hideto "hide" Matsumoto (1998), Japanese musician, lead guitarist of X Japan, hanging (disputed)
• Toshikatsu Matsuoka (2007), Japanese politician, hanging
• Denis Matthews (1988), UK pianist
• Maximian (310), Roman emperor, hanged himself after a failed plot
• Vladimir Mayakovsky (1930), Russian poet; his suicide note said "I don't recommend it for others," gunshot
• Jacques Mayol (2001), French free-diver, hanging
• Susannah McCorkle (2001), jazz singer, jumped from balcony
• Kid McCoy (1940), world champion boxer (real name: Norman Shelby), overdose
• Chris McKinstry (2006), researcher in Artificial Intelligence, gas
• Robert M. McLane (1904), mayor of Baltimore, gunshot
• Gordon McMaster (1997), British politician, Asphyxia by automobile exhaust
• Charles B. McVay III (1968), commanded USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when torpedoed during World War II, gunshot
• Matthew Mechtel (2008), American politician and agricultural promoter, gunshot
• Joe Meek (1967), record producer, gunshot
• Niklaus Meienberg (1993), Swiss writer and investigative journalist, suffocation by garbage bag
• Ulrike Meinhof (1976) German radical leftist terrorist; disputed, died in prison cell, hanging
• Kitty Melrose (1912), English actress
• Charlotte Mew (1928), English poet, drank Lysol (cleaner)
• Noel Mewton-Wood (1953), Australian pianist; drank prussic acid
• James Miller(2003), known as the Fan Man, parachutist, hanging
• Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1996), science-fiction writer, gunshot
• Mary Millington (1979), British adult film actress, overdose
• Freddie Mills (1965), world champion boxer, gunshot
• William Oswald Mills (1973), U.S. congressman from Maryland, gunshot
• John Milton (1865), Governor of Florida, gunshot
• Minamoto no Yorimasa (1180), Japanese poet, seppuku
• Yukio Mishima (1970), Japanese novelist; public ritual seppuku
• Ana Mladić (1994), daughter of Serbian General Ratko Mladić, indicted for war crimes, gunshot
• Vilhelm Moberg (1973), Swedish author and historian, drowned
• Walther Model (1945), German Field Marshal, gunshot
• 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, hanging
• Henry de Montherlant (1972), French writer, cyanide pill and gunshot to the head
• Donnie Moore (1989), relief pitcher for the California Angels (today Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), gunshot
• Chris Morgan (2008), British journalist, threw himself in front of a train
• Duane R. Morrison (2006), Platte Canyon High School shooting
• Ted Moult (1986), British television personality, gunshot
• Al Mulock (1968), Canadian actor, committed suicide on the set of his last film Once Upon a Time in the West, jumped from window
• David Munrow (1976), UK early music specialist, founder of the Early Music Consort, hanging
• James Murray (1936), American silent film actor (The Crowd), drowned in the Hudson River

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
• Nero (68), emperor of Rome, stabbed himself while being pursued by Roman soldiers
• Gérard de Nerval (1855), French writer, hanging
• Joachim Nielsen (2000), Norwegian singer in the band Jokke & Valentinerne, overdosed on heroin
• Goce Nikolovski (2006), Macedonian singer, gunshot.
• Ni Min-jan (2005), Taiwanese actor and comedian, hanged.
• Frank Nitti (1943), United States gangster, gunshot
• Maresuke Nogi (1912), Japanese hero of Russo-Japanese war, committed seppuku with his wife following death of Meiji emperor
• Jon Nödtveidt (2006), frontman of Swedish black metal band Dissection, gunshot
• Alighiero Noschese (1979), Italian impersonator, shot himself.

O

• Lawrence Oates (1912), Antarctic explorer; he said "I am just going outside and may be some time" when he walked out of the tent to his death in the blizzard, leaving behind Robert Falcon Scott and the others
• John O'Brien (1994), author of Leaving Las Vegas (on which the film was based), gunshot
• C. Y. O'Connor (1902), Irish engineer, gunshot
• Hugh O'Connor (1995), actor, gunshot
• Luis Ocaña (1994), Spanish cyclist, Tour de France winner, gunshot
• 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 band Mayhem, killed himself with a shotgun after having slashed his wrist and cut his throat
• Yukiko Okada (1986), Japanese idol of the 1980s, jumped from a seven story building after failed wrist slashing and gas inhalation attempts
• Otho (69), Roman emperor, stabbed himself with a dagger

P

• Wayne Pai (2008), Taiwanese businessman
• Jan Palach (1969), protesting Soviet crushing of the Prague Spring, self-immolation
• Deborah Jeane Palfrey (2008), American escort agency proprietor, hanging
• Breece D'J Pancake (1979), American short story author, gunshot
• Billy Papke (1936), world champion boxer, gunshot
• Violeta Parra (1967), Chilean folk singer, gunshot
• Phasael (40 BC), prince from the Herodian Dynasty, head injury
• Jules Pascin (1930), French-American painter, slit wrists and hanged himself
• 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, hanging.
• Richard Piggott (1890), author of the Piggott Forgeries, gunshot
• Rob Pilatus (1998), Former member of the 90's duo group Mili Vanilli, overdose
• H. Beam Piper (1964), American science fiction writer, gunshot
• Justin Pierce] (2000), American actor, hanging
• Alejandra Pizarnik (1972), Argentine poet, seconal overdose
• 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 of The Whitlams, jumped from Wentworth Falls
• Ben Pollack (1971), drummer and big-band leader from the mid '20s to the Swing era, hanging
• 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 forPack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile, once described as "the most optimistic song ever written", gunshot
• Kiki Preston (1946), American heiress, Jumped from window
• Lucien Anatole Prevost-Paradol (1870), French journalist and diplomat, gunshot
• Mark Priestley (2008), actor on the Australian hit TV series All Saints, jumped from the roof of a hotel in Sydney
• 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, gunshot
• Boris Pugo (1991), Latvian serving minister of the Interior of the USSR; self-inflicted gunshot
• Jack Purvis (1962), American jazz trumpeter

Q

• Antero de Quental (1891), Portuguese poet, gunshot
• Richard Quine (1989), U.S. film director, gunshot
• Robert Quine (2004), guitar player of Richard Hell & the Voidoids, overdose
• Glenn Quinn (2002), Irish-American actor; Roseanne & Angel; Heroin overdose
• Qu Yuan(ca. 278 BC) Chinese patriotic poet during the Warring States Period, drowning

R

• Jason Raize (2004), American Broadway actor and recording star who originated the role of Simba in the Lion king on Broadway.
• Florencio Morales Ramos (1989), known as Ramito, trova singer, gunshot
• Kuljeet Randhawa (2006), Indian television actress, hanging
• Danny Rapp (1983), frontman for Danny & the Juniors, gunshot
• David Rappaport (1990), actor, gunshot
• Abram Raselemane (2008), South African footballer
• Margaret Mary Ray (1998), David Letterman stalker, knelt in front of a train
• Alfred Redl (1913), Austrian army officer, spied for Russia, gunshot
• George Reeves (1959), American actor, played Superman on television, death officially ruled as suicide by gunshot, but remains controversial to this day
• David Reimer (2004), Canadian advocate, known as the "John/Joan" case, gunshot
• John Reynolds (1966), American actor, played Torgo in the infamous cult classic "Manos" The Hands of Fate, gunshot or overdose
• Thomas Caute Reynolds (1887), Confederate Governor of Missouri, jumped down elevator shaft
• Thomas Reynolds (1844), Governor of Missouri 1840-1844, shot himself
• David Ritcheson (2007), hate crime victim; jumped off cruise ship
• René Rivkin (2005), Australian stockbroker and entrepreneur
• Carlos Roberto Reina (2003), former president of Honduras, gunshot
• Malachi Ritscher (2006), burned himself to death as an anti-war protest on Chicago's Kennedy expressway
• Angel Rivero Mendez (1930), Puerto Rican soldier for the Spanish Army, inventor, gunshot
• John Robarts, (1982), former Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, 1961-1971; committed suicide with shotgun
• Rachel Roberts (1980), Welsh-born British actress, overdose
• Bill Robinzine (1982), American basketball player, carbon monoxide poisoning
• Charles Rocket (2005), American comedian, slit own throat
• Sue Rodriguez (1994), Canadian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) victim and advocate for Euthanasia, assisted suicide
• Lukasz Romanek (2006), Polish Speedway rider, former World Under 21 champion. Found dead in his workshop
• Samuel Romilly (1818), British prison reformer, slit own throat
• Edgar Rosenberg (1987), husband of Joan Rivers, overdose
• Mark Rothko (1970), Russian-American painter, slit arms
• Jacques Roux (1794), leader of the Enrages in the French Revolution, stabbed himself while facing execution
• Ruan Lingyu (1935), Chinese actress, overdose
• Irv Rubin (2002), leader of the Jewish Defense League, cut throat and fell off balcony
• Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1857), senator from Texas, gunshot
• Michael Ryan (1987), mass murderer at Hungerford; self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing many others
• Jakub Jan Ryba (1815), Czech composer and teacher, slit own throat

S

• Matti Juhani Saari (2008), Finnish school shooter, gunshot
• Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1916), Portuguese poet, drank several bottles of strychnine
• Emilio Salgari (1911), Italian writer, by stabbing himself
• Albert Salmi (1990), American actor, apparently shot his wife to death with one gun and shot himself in the heart with another
• Johanna Sällström, (2007) Swedish actress
• Alexander Samsonov (1914), Russian military commander, gunshot to head following disastrous Battle of Tannenberg
• George Sanders (1972), English actor, barbiturate overdose
• Alberto Santos-Dumont (1932), Brazilian aviation pioneer, hanging to protest against airplane use for war
• 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, gunshot
• Margie Schoedinger (2003), filed lawsuit against George W. Bush claiming that she had been raped, gunshot
• Dave Schulthise (2004), bassist for Dead Milkmen
• Conrad Schumann (1998), GDR refugee, hanging
• Ingo Schwichtenberg (1995), former drummer of German power metal band Helloween, jumped in front of subway
• William Seabrook (1945), adventurer, travel writer, overdose
• Jean Seberg (1979), American actress, barbiturate overdose
• Edie Sedgwick (1972), American socialite, Warhol superstar, overdose
• Sergio López Segú (2006), Spanish footballer, threw himself under a train
• Anne Sexton (1974), American poet, inhaled carbon monoxide
• Frances Ford Seymour (1950), NYC socialite, mother of Peter and Jane Fonda, slit own throat
• Shang Zhou (1046 BC), the last king of the Shang Dynasty of China, set fire to his palace while inside it
• Del Shannon (1990), American singer, gunshot
• Alice Bradley Sheldon, pen name James Tiptree, Jr (1987), American science fiction author, mercy-killed her terminally ill husband and then shot herself
• Shibata Katsuie (1583), Japanese military commander, seppuku
• Harold Shipman (2004), imprisoned British doctor found to have killed 250+ of his patients, found dead in prison cell, hanging
• Arthur Shrewsbury (1903), former captain of the England cricket team, gunshot
• Eli Siegel (1978), founded Aesthetic Realism
• Varnado Simpson (1997), Pfc jointly responsible for the My Lai Massacre
• Walter Slezak (1983), U.S. actor, gunshot
• Everett Sloane (1965), U.S. actor, part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater
• Elliott Smith (2003), U.S singer, song writer, stabbed self two times in chest
• James Leonard Brierley Smith, (1968), South African paleoanatomist, cyanide poisoning
• Paul Snider (1980), promoter, murdered Playmate Dorothy Stratten then killed himself, gunshot
• Mitch Snyder (1990), U.S. activist, advocate for the homeless, hanging
• Soga no Emishi (645), Japanese statesman
• Somesvara I (also known as Ahavamalla or Trilokamalla) (1068), king of the Chalukya empire, drowning
• Mark Speight (2008), UK children's television presenter, hanging
• John Hanning Speke (1864), UK explorer of Africa, gunshot
• John Spence (musician) (1987), U.S. musician, original lead singer of No Doubt; shot himself 9 months after band's 1st official gig, gunshot
• Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1947), UK forensic pathologist who helped convict Dr. Crippen; gassed himself in an oven at his laboratory
• Serge Stavisky (1934), Russian-French swindler, gunshot, disputed
• Wilhelm Stekel (1940), Austrian psychoanalist
• Inger Stevens, (1970), Swedish born American film actress, overdose
• Gary Stewart (2003), country singer, gunshot
• Jay Stewart (1989), TV Announcer, gunshot
• Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), nineteenth-century British statesman, slit own throat
• Adalbert Stifter (1868), Austrian writer, slit own throat
• Alfonsina Storni (1938), Argentinian poetess; committed suicide, by entering the sea at the La Perla beach near Mar del Plata, Argentina.
• David Strickland (1999), actor, hanging
• Steven Sueppel (2008), American businessman, thief and mass murderer, purposefully crashed his minivan at high speed
• David Edward 'Screaming Lord' Sutch (1999), English rock singer and politician, hanging
• István Széchenyi (1860), Hungarian statesman, gunshot

T

• Vlado Taneski (2008), Macedonian journalist and serial killer, drowning
• Yutaka Taniyama (1958), Japanese mathematician
• Alberts Tarulis (1927), Latvian footballer, hanging
• Victor Tausk (1919), pioneer psychoanalyst
• Tawfik Abu al-Huda Baja (1956), former prime minister of Jordan
• Sara Teasdale (1933), American poet, overdose
• Pál Teleki (1941), Hungarian statesman, gunshot
• Lou Tellegen (1934), Dutch-born American film actor, stabbed self in chest with scissors
• Luigi Tenco (1967), Italian singer-songwriter, gunshot
• Tewodros II of Ethiopia (1868), Ethiopian Emperor, gunshot
• Jack Thayer (1945), Titanic survivor, slashed wrists and throat in his car
• Jason Thirsk (1996), bassist of the band Pennywise, gunshot
• Jesse B. Thomas (1853), U.S. Senator from Illinois
• Hunter S. Thompson (2005), American author, gunshot
• 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
• Li Tobler (1975), Swiss actress, gunshot
• Mutsuo Toi (1938), killed 30 people in the Tsuyama massacre, gunshot
• Ernst Toller (1939), German writer, hanging
• Mikhail Tomsky (1936), Russian revolutionary, gunshot
• Wolfe Tone (1798), Irish independence leader
• John Kennedy Toole (1969), American novelist, asphyxiation by carbon monoxide
• Georg Trakl (1914), Austrain poet, cocaine overdose
• 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, slit own throat
• Marina Tsvetaeva (1941), Russian poetess and writer, hanging
• Kurt Tucholsky (1935), German journalist and satirist, overdose
• Alan Turing (1954), British mathematician and computer scientist, cyanide poisoning; disputed
• John Walker Turnbull (1999), British Soldier, gunshot
• Randy Turpin (1966), British world champion boxer, gunshot
• Tore Tønne (2002), Norwegian Minister of Health and Social Affairs
• Jim Tyrer (1980), All-Pro tackle for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, murder-suicide, killed his wife and then himself

U

• U;Nee (2007), South Korean Actress And Singer, hanging
• Ernst Udet (1941), German air ace and Luftwaffe inspector general, gunshot
• Urmuz (1923), Romanian writer
• Mitsuru Ushijima (1945), Japanese military commander who lost the Battle of Okinawa, seppuku

V

• Vaishnavi (2006), Indian actress, hanging
• W. S. Van Dyke (1941), American film director, method unknown
• Peter Van Eyck (1969), Dutch-UK film actor
• Vincent van Gogh (1890), Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, gunshot to chest
• Vicki Van Meter (2008), American pilot, gunshot
• George Washington Vanderbilt III (1961), American yachtsman and scientific explorer, jumping from balcony
• Johannes Vares (1946), Estonian poet, doctor and politician
• Getúlio Vargas (1954), President of Brazil, killed himself during impeachment trial, gunshot
• 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, gassed self by kitchen oven
• Lupe Vélez (1944), actress, overdose
• Baroness Mary Vetsera (1889), mistress of Crown Prince Rudolph; disputed
• Sid Vicious (1979), bassist of the Sex Pistols, heroin overdose
• Hervé Villechaize (1993), French actor, "Fantasy Island", gunshot

W

• David Foster Wallace (2008), American writer, hanging
• Petri Walli (1995), Finnish rock musician, jumped from roof
• Larry Walters (1993), US lawn chair pilot; gunshot to the heart.
• Wang Guowei (1927), Chinese poet and Imperial supporter, drowned himself when the revolutionary army captured Beijing
• Peter Warlock (1930), UK composer (also known as Philip Heseltine), gas poisoning
• Andre Waters (2006), former American football player, gunshot
• Doodles Weaver (1983), U.S. comedian, member of Spike Jones' City Slickers, gunshot
• Gary Webb (2004), U.S. investigative reporter; death ruled as suicide from two gunshots
• Otto Weininger (1903), Austrian philosopher
• Jeff Weise (2005), Red Lake High School shooter, killed himself with a shotgun after being wounded by police
• George Weldon (1963), UK conductor, died in South Africa
• Horace Wells (1848), dentist who pioneered the use of anesthesia, slit artery in leg after first taking chloroform
• 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), UK film director, drowning
• Samuel Whitbread (1815), Whig politician, slit throat
• 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
• Kevin Whitrick (2007), British electrical engineer, died by hanging
• Warren Wiebe (1998) American session vocalist, method not known
• Roland Weißelberg (2006) Lutheran vicar; set himself alight in the German town of Erfurt, where Martin Luther took his monastic vows in 1505, following the example of Oskar Brüsewitz
• Paul Williams (1973), singer (Temptations), gunshot
• Percy Williams (1982), athlete
• Rozz Williams (1998), musician (Christian Death), hanging
• Wendy O. Williams (1998), lead singer of The Plasmatics, gunshot
• Don Wilson (1975), baseball player, carbon monoxide poisoning
• Greg Wilton (2000), Australian Federal politician
• John Gilbert Winant (1947), Governor of New Hampshire
• Sheree Winton (1976), UK actress and mother of Dale Winton
• Eduard Wirths (1945), military surgeon conducted research work at Auschwitz concentration camp, hanging
• Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz , also known as "Witkacy" (1939), Polish author, novelist, painter, philosopher, slit wrists
• Frank Wolff (1971), American actor
• Woo Bum-kon (1982), killed 57 people in the Gyeongsangnam-do massacre, grenade explosion
• Wally Wood (1981), cartoonist, gunshot
• Virginia Woolf (1941), British novelist, filled her pockets with stones and walked into a river near her home.

X

• Lluís Maria Xirinacs (2007), Catalan activist

Y

• Kelly Yeomans (1997), school girl whose death sparked media controversy, overdose
• Sergei Yesenin (1925), Russian poet, husband of Isadora Duncan, hanging
• Haile Yimenu (1991), former Prime Minister of Ethiopia
• Faron Young (1996), country singer, gunshot
• Gig Young (1978), American actor, murder-suicide by gunshot
• Barbara Yung (1985), Hong Kong actress and former Miss Hong Kong contestant, carbon monoxide poisoning

Z

• Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1970), German composer (Die Soldaten)
• 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, carbon monoxide poisoning

Forced suicide

The following people committed forced suicide - acts of suicide as a punishment at the behest of civil or judicial authorities:

• Ludwig Beck (1944), German Chief of the General Staff of the OKH, forced to commit suicide after the failed 20th of July plot.
• 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.
• Li Tan (757), son of Emperor Suzong of China; forced to commit suicide after false accusations that he meant to kill his brother Li Chu.
• Asano Naganori (1701), Japanese noble, forced to commit seppuku after attacking Kira Yoshinaka. The Akou-Roushi (47 ronin), (1703), former retainers of Naganori, were also later ordered to commit seppuku after killing Yoshinaka.
• Oda Nobunaga (1582), after being betrayed by his general Akechi Mitsuhide.
• Qin Er Shi (207 BC), the second emperor of Qin dynasty China, forced to commit suicide by Zhao Gao.
• Mori Ranmaru (1582), Oda Nobunaga's servant and close companion, forced to commit suicide along with him.
• Erwin Rommel (1944), German Field Marshal, took part in a plot against Hitler; forced to take poison in exchange for his family being protected from reprisals.
• Seneca the Younger (65), was ordered to commit suicide by the emperor Nero
• Socrates (399 BCE), Greek philosopher, ordered to drink hemlock juice after his trial in Athens. In the Crito, Socrates is offered a chance to escape but refuses.
• Hojo Ujimasa (1590), lord of Odawara, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi successfully besieged him.
• Hōjō Ujiteru (1590), brother of Hojo Ujimasa

Possible suicides

The following is a list of people whose cause of death is disputed, or whose intention to commit suicide is doubtful.

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.
• Carl Fredrik Algernon (1987), Swedish rear admiral and arms material inspector
• Pier Angeli (1971), Italian-born actress, died of an overdose of barbiturates. Speculation that her death was a suicide has never been officially confirmed.

B

• Andreas Baader (1977), leader of the German revolutionary organization Red Army Faction (RAF). His suicide by gunshot to the head whilst in prison is questioned by some supporters of the group.
• Boudica (61 AD), Iceni queen, reportedly either drank poison or died of an illness after her army was defeated by the Romans.
• Gaetano Bresci (1901), Italian anarchist, assassin of King Umberto I (officially died as a result of suicide, but was found strangled)

D

• Nick Drake (1974), British singer-songwriter, overdose of the anti-depressant tryptizol, possibly accidental
• Guru Dutt (1964), Indian actor and director; accidental or intentional overdose of sleeping pills

E

• Gudrun Ensslin (1977), German revolutionary, member of Red Army Faction (RAF)

G

• Judy Garland (1969), American actress/singer, autopsy-ruled accidental barbiturate overdose

H

• Hong Xiuquan (1864), Chinese leader of the Taiping Rebellion, variously reported to either have poisoned himself or died of an illness
• Bohumil Hrabal (1997), Czechoslovakia writer, fell from a fifth-floor hospital while he was allegedly trying to feed pigeons
• Michael Hutchence (1997), Australian lead singer of rock group INXS, hanged himself in a hotel room; officially ruled as suicide, but widely believed to be a case of mishandled autoerotic asphyxiation

J

• Randall Jarrell (1965), American writer, struck by a car and killed at an odd hour of the evening on a lonesome stretch of road near Chapel Hill, North Carolina; after struggling with clinical depression and shortly after a suicide attempt in which he unsuccessfully slashed his wrists
• Judas Iscariot, traitor to Jesus, hanged himself according to the Gospel of Matthew; the Book of Acts suggests he died in an accidental fall, while the apocryphical Gospel of Judas suggests he was stoned to death by the other Apostles

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.
• Weldon Kees (1955), American poet, artist and musician. Vanished in 1955; his car was found beside the Golden Gate Bridge, from which he may have leaped to his death. He had spoken to his friends of suicide beforehand, but had also spoken of departing for Mexico; either may have happened.
• Douglas Kenney (1980), writer, producer, actor of National Lampoon Magazine and Animal House. Jumped, fell or was pushed off a cliff in Hawaii. Composed note: "These are the best days I've chosen to ignore" found in hotel room.
• Ivar Kreuger (1932), Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist, officially shot himself — but the evidence that he was murdered is also compelling.

L

• Alun Lewis (1944), British soldier and poet, found near the officers' latrine, a gunshot in his head, his revolver still in his hand. The official Army Court of Inquiry concluded that his death was accidental, but suicide has been suggested.
• Meriwether Lewis (1809), U.S. explorer with Clark, gunshot, disputed as to either murder or suicide
• Ludwig II of Bavaria (1886), drowned in captivity, officially ruled as suicide but circumstances are unclear

M

• Ettore Majorana, Italian physicist who disappeared in 1938; one of the possible considered explanations is that he committed suicide by drowning
• 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.
• Hideto Matsumoto, also known as "hide" (1998), Japanese musician, possibly accidental hanging
• 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'
• Jürgen W. Möllemann (2003), German politician, parachute failure
• Marilyn Monroe (1962), US Actress, found dead and naked in her bed in her California home from an overdose of sleeping pills
• Renate Müller (1937), German actress, fall from window originally reported as resulting from an epileptic seizure; also reported by some that the Gestapo was involved in her death

P

• Pier delle Vigne (1249), Italian diplomat. Reportedly killed himself to avoid torture, although the circumstances of his death are not certain. In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri puts him among suicides.
• Pontius Pilate (36), Roman governor and judge of Jesus of Nazareth; Eusebius of Caesarea quotes some accounts which relate that Pilate committed suicide, but this is considered to be merely a legend.
• Giuseppe Pinelli (1969), Italian anarchist. Was picked up for questioning regarding the Piazza Fontana terrorist attack in Milan that killed 16 people and injured 84. On December 15, 1969 Pinelli was seen to fall to his death from a fourth floor window of the Milan police headquarters.

Q

• Quintillus (270), Roman emperor, various conflicting accounts of his death, but possible suicide by wrist-slitting

R

• 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
• Dean Reed (1986), musician known as the "Red Elvis" for his leftist political views and popularity in the Soviet Bloc, drowned, but may have been accidental; his family claimed it was murder
• Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (1889), heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, gunshot, officially as part of a suicide pact, but there is substantial speculation about a murder coverup

S

• Saul, King of Israel (1 Sam. 31:4), died either by falling on his sword or at the hands of an Amalekite soldier
• Romy Schneider (1982), Austrian actress, found dead in her apartment in Paris in May 1982, suggested 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.
• Elizabeth Siddal (1862), Pre-Raphaelite icon and wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, officially an accidental overdose, but Rossetti may have destroyed a suicide note
• Elliott Smith (2003), American musician (reported as suicide, still officially under investigation — no suspects named). Smith died of two fatal stab wounds to the chest after an argument with his girlfriend. An official autopsy was carried out, the results of which were inconclusive.

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 (alleged) homosexuality.

V

• Pierre-Charles Villeneuve (1806), French admiral who lost the Battle of Trafalgar, stabbed in chest; recorded as suicide, but may have been murdered by agents of Napoleon

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?". His diary had often spoke of suicidal thoughts. The coroner recorded an open verdict.

Y

• Alfredo Yabrán (1998), Argentine businessman, gunshot, sometimes alleged to have faked his death

External links

• Artists Who Committed Suicide