List of heads of state and government who took their own lives

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A number of heads of state and heads of government have died by suicide, either while in office or after leaving office. National leaders who die by suicide while in office generally do so because their leadership is somehow threatened – for instance, by a coup or an invading army.

Heads of state

Name Country Year In
office		 Method Probable
motive		 Ref.
Aizong  Jin Dynasty 1234 Yes Hanging Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty [1]
Chongzhen Emperor  Ming Dynasty 1644 Yes Hanging or suffocation (disputed) Impending defeat by rebels under Li Zicheng [2]
Henri Christophe  Kingdom of Haiti 1820 Yes Gunshot Poor health, impending overthrow [3]
Juan Larrea  Argentina 1847 No Business failure [4]
Anson Jones  Republic of Texas 1858 No Gunshot Political failure [5]
Tewodros II  Ethiopia 1868 Yes Gunshot Defeated by the British Expedition to Abyssinia [6]
Fridolin Anderwert   Switzerland 1880 Yes Adverse press coverage, depression, exhaustion [7]
José Manuel Balmaceda  Chile 1891 No Gunshot Defeat in the Chilean Civil War of 1891 [8]
Nikolay Chkheidze  Georgia 1926 No Depression over Bolshevik conquest of Georgia [9]
Germán Busch  Bolivia 1939 Yes Gunshot Political frustration [10]
Otto Strandman  Estonia 1941 No Gunshot Ordered to report to the NKVD [11]
Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski  Poland 1942 No Jumped off a building (disputed) [12]
Adolf Hitler  Germany 1945 Yes Gunshot Defeat in European theatre of World War II [13]
Omer Nishani (disputed whether suicide)  Albania 1954 No Gunshot Poor health, political failure [14][15]
Getúlio Vargas  Brazil 1954 Yes Gunshot Opposition from the military [16]
Salvador Allende  Chile 1973 Yes Gunshot (disputed) Military coup [17][18][19]
Chivu Stoica  Romania 1975 No Gunshot Out of favour with leadership of the Romanian Communist Party [20]
Carlos Prío Socarrás (disputed whether suicide)  Cuba 1977 No Gunshot (disputed) Faced questioning by the House Select Committee on Assassinations [21][22]
Antonio Guzmán Fernández  Dominican Republic 1982 Yes Gunshot Corruption allegations [23][24]
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado  Cuba 1983 No Gunshot Poor health, bereavement [25]
Lazarus Salii  Palau 1988 Yes Gunshot Corruption allegations [26]
Zviad Gamsakhurdia (disputed whether suicide)  Georgia 1993 No Gunshot Defeat in Georgian Civil War [27][28]
Dipendra    Nepal 2001 Yes Gunshot Unknown: had just killed nine family members [29]
Carlos Roberto Reina  Honduras 2003 No Gunshot Ill-health [30]
Milan Babić  Serbian Krajina 2006 No Hanged in prison cell [31]
Roh Moo-hyun  South Korea 2009 No Jumped off a cliff Corruption allegations [32]
Alan García Pérez  Peru 2019 No Gunshot Allegations of corruption [33]
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Islamic StateIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant 2019 Yes detonation of explosive vest Defeat of the ISIL caliphate

Heads of government

Name Country Year In
office		 Method Probable
motive		 Reference
Hurshid Pasha  Ottoman Empire 1822 Yes Poison Defeat in Greek War of Independence and execution threat [34]
Bhimsen Thapa    Nepal 1839 No Slit throat with a kukri Disgrace of third wife [35]
Iosif Adamovich  Belarus 1937 No Gunshot Being taken to Moscow under arrest [36]
Walery Sławek  Poland 1939 No Gunshot Political failure [37][38]
Pál Teleki  Hungary 1941 Yes Gunshot Distress over entry of German troops into Hungary [39][40]
Alexandros Koryzis  Greece 1941 Yes Gunshot German invasion of Greece [41]
Joseph Goebbels  Germany 1945 No Gunshot or cyanide Defeat in European theatre of World War II [42][43]
Fumimaro Konoe  Japan 1945 No Cyanide Accused of war crimes [44]
Johannes Vares (disputed whether suicide)  Estonia 1946 No Gunshot Disillusion with Soviet system [45][46]
Tawfik Abu Al-Huda  Jordan 1956 No Hanging [47][48]
John McEwen  Australia 1980 No Starvation (refused food) Ill-health [49][50]
Mehmet Shehu (disputed whether suicide)  Albania 1981 Yes Gunshot (disputed) Nervous breakdown [51][52]
Hailu Yimenu  Ethiopia 1991? 1993? No Avoiding capture by EPRDF [53][54]
Pierre Bérégovoy  France 1993 No Gunshot Depression and being investigated [55]
Mahmoud Zuabi  Syria 2000 No Gunshot Allegations of corruption [56]
Alan García Pérez  Peru 2019 No Gunshot Allegations of corruption [57]

References

  1. ^ Toqto'a (c. 1345). "Volumes 17–18: Biography of Emperor Aizong". History of Jin. China.
  2. ^ Mingji beilüe, quoted in Wakeman Jr., Frederic (1986), The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China, University of California Press, ISBN 9780520048041, p. 266.
  3. ^ Monfried, Walter, "The Slave Who Became King: Henri Christophe", Negro Digest, Volume XII, Number 12, October, 1963.
  4. ^ National Academy of History of Argentina (2010). Revolución en el Plata (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Emece. pp. 269–270. ISBN 978-950-04-3258-0.
  5. ^ "Anson Jones Left Behind", from Triumph and Tragedy: Presidents of the Republic of Texas, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
  6. ^ "Tewodros II". EthiopianHistory.com. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  7. ^ Clive H. Church; Randolph Conrad Head (2013). A Concise History of Switzerland. Cambridge University Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-521-19444-0.
  8. ^ Collier, Simon; Sater, William F. (2004) [1996]. "Santa Maria and Balmaceda Studies". A History of Chile, 1808-2002. Cambridge Latin American (Second ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-0-521-53484-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  9. ^ Spencer Tucker (2005). World War I: Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-85109-420-2.
  10. ^ Laura Gotkowitz (2008). A Revolution for Our Rights: Indigenous Struggles for Land and Justice in Bolivia, 1880–1952. Duke University Press. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-0-8223-9012-1.
  11. ^ Pillak, Peep. Eesti Päevaleht – Riigimees Otto Strandman –130, 03.12.2005
  12. ^ Wojciech Roszkowski; Jan Kofman (July 2016). Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Taylor & Francis. p. 1995. ISBN 978-1-317-47593-4.
  13. ^ Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995]. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth. Trans. Helmut Bögler. London: Brockhampton Press. pp. 160–182. ISBN 978-1-86019-902-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  14. ^ Robert Elsie (2012). A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. I.B.Tauris. p. 331. ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3.
  15. ^ Uran Butka (December 2014). The Bomb and the Soviet Embassy in Tirana. Booktique.al. pp. 69–70. GGKEY:RDANRJTP09G.
  16. ^ "The Death of Getulio Vargas, Witness - BBC World Service". BBC. 25 August 2014.
  17. ^ "Socialist Says Allende Once Spoke of Suicide". The New York Times. 12 September 1973. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  18. ^ "Chilean president Salvador Allende committed suicide, autopsy confirms". The Guardian. 19 July 2011.
  19. ^ "Chilean court confirms Allende suicide - CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. 2012-09-12.
  20. ^ Ion Mihai Pacepa (1990). Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescus' Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption. Regnery Gateway. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-89526-746-7.
  21. ^ Kathleen Tracy (2010). We Visit Cuba. Mitchell Lane Publishers, Incorporated. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-61228-039-4.
  22. ^ Richard Belzer; David Wayne (June 2016). Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-62636-284-0.
  23. ^ Pablo González Casanova (1993). Latin America Today. United Nations University Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-92-808-0819-3.
  24. ^ John E. Jessup (1998). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-313-28112-9.
  25. ^ "OSVALDO DORTICOS, AN EX-PRESIDENT AND AIDE TO CASTRO, KILLS HIMSELF". The New York Times. 1983-06-25. ISSN 0362-4331.
  26. ^ Wypijewski, JoAnn. "Broken Trust." The Nation. The Nation Institute. September 26, 1988. Retrieved October 29, 2017 from HighBeam Research.
  27. ^ Reburial for Georgia ex-president. BBC News. 1 April 2007.
  28. ^ Christoph Zurcher (September 2009). The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus. NYU Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-8147-9724-2.
  29. ^ Mullins, Lisa (1 Jun 2011). "Why Nepal's Crown Prince Went on a Killing Spree". PRI.
  30. ^ "Carlos Roberto Reina, 77, President of Honduras in the 1990s". The New York Times. August 21, 2003.
  31. ^ "UN finds no foul play in Serb's death", New York Times, June 9, 2006.
  32. ^ english@peopledaily.com.cn (1 June 2009). "S Korea's opposition party demands president's apology for ex-president's death". People's Daily.
  33. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47965867. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  34. ^ George Georgiades Arnakis; Wayne S. Vucinich (1969). The Near East in modern times. Pemberton Press. p. 157.
  35. ^ Acharya, Baburam (2012), Acharya, Shri Krishna (ed.), Janaral Bhimsen Thapa : Yinko Utthan Tatha Pattan (in Nepali), Kathmandu: Education Book House, p. 164, ISBN 9789937241748
  36. ^ "Index Aa-Ag|Adamovich, Iosif Aleksandrovich". rulers.org. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  37. ^ Włodzimierz Kalicki: 2 kwietnia 1939. Stary browning. Gazeta Wyborcza, 2 April 2006.
  38. ^ Ivan T. Berend (2001). Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II. University of California Press. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-520-22901-3.
  39. ^ Horthy, Miklós; Simon, Andrew L. "The Annotated Memoirs of Admiral Milklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary". Ilona Bowden. Archived from the original on 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  40. ^ András Bán (2004). Hungarian-British Diplomacy, 1938-1941: The Attempt to Maintain Relations. Psychology Press. pp. 142–3. ISBN 978-0-7146-8565-6.
  41. ^ Antony Beevor (2011). Crete: The Battle and the Resistance. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-84854-635-6.
  42. ^ Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995]. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth. Trans. Helmut Bögler. London: Brockhampton Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-86019-902-8.
  43. ^ Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Viking-Penguin Books. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
  44. ^ Grant Kohn Goodman (2005). America's Japan: The First Year, 1945-1946. Fordham Univ Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8232-2515-6.
  45. ^ Laar, M. (1992). War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1956. Howells House. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-929590-08-0.
  46. ^ Alexander Shtromas (2003). Totalitarianism and the Prospects for World Order: Closing the Door on the Twentieth Century. Lexington Books. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7391-0534-4.
  47. ^ Massad, Joseph A. (1998). Identifying the nation: the juridical and military bases of Jordanian national identity. Columbia University. p. 281.
  48. ^ Massad, Joseph A. (2012). Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan. Columbia University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-231-50570-3.
  49. ^ Jean, Peter (3 November 2014). "Former PM's secret pain led to tragic end". The Advertiser (South Australia).
  50. ^ Julian Fitzgerald, On Message: Political Communications of Australian Prime Ministers 1901 – 2014. Clareville Press, 2014. p.2 92.
  51. ^ Crampton, R. J. (July 2014). The Balkans Since the Second World War. Routledge. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-317-89117-8.
  52. ^ Robert Bideleux; Ian Jeffries (2007). The Balkans: A Post-Communist History. Routledge. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-1-134-58328-7.
  53. ^ "Languishing in an Addis embassy". BBC News. 28 December 2005.
  54. ^ Girma, Yehwalashet (1996). The Rape of a Nation. Minerva. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-85863-848-5.
  55. ^ Parrot, clément (11 July 2000). "Suicide de Pierre Bérégovoy, vingt ans déjà : retour en vidéos sur une mort tragique". The New York Times.
  56. ^ Kifner, John (1 May 2013). "Syrians Vote To Confirm Assad's Son As President". Le HuffPost.
  57. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47965867. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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