List of heads of state and government who committed suicide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 State Year In
office		 Method Probable
motive		 Ref.
Zhou Shang dynasty 1046 BC Yes Immolation Impending defeat by rebels under Jiang Ziya
Zimri Israel 885 BC? Yes Immolation Impending defeat by rebels under Omri [1]
Cheng Chu 626 BC Yes Hanging Palace coup by Prince Shangchen
Ling Chu 529 BC Yes Palace coup by Duke Qiji of Cai
Psamtik III Egypt 525 BC No Poisoning Defeated and deposed by the Achaemenid king Cambyses II
Qin Er Shi Qin dynasty 207 BC Yes Palace coup by Zhao Gao
Cleopatra VII Philopator Ptolemaic Kingdom 30 BC Yes Poisoning Death of Mark Antony and impending defeat by Octavian
Otho Roman Empire 69 Yes Stabbing Impending defeat by Vitellius
Gordian I Roman Empire 238 Yes Hanging Death of son and co-emperor Gordian II at the Battle of Carthage [2]
Bongsang Goguryeo 300 Yes Palace coup owing to popular unrest
Maximian Roman Empire 310 No Hanging Failure of rebellion against Constantine I
Yujiulü Anagui Rouran Khaganate 552 Yes Defeat by Turkic rebellion led by Bumin Qaghan [3]
Huigang Silla 838 Yes Impending defeat by rebels under Kim Myeong [4]
Li Congke Tang dynasty 937 Yes Immolation Impending defeat by Emperor Taizong of Liao [5]
Aizong Jin dynasty 1234 Yes Hanging Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty [6]
Chongzhen Emperor Ming dynasty 1644 Yes Hanging or suffocation (disputed) Impending defeat by rebels under Li Zicheng [7]
Henri Christophe Haiti 1820 Yes Gunshot Poor health, impending overthrow [8]
Juan Larrea  Argentina 1847 No Business failure [9]
Anson Jones  Texas 1858 No Gunshot Political failure [10]
Tewodros II Ethiopia 1868 Yes Gunshot Defeated by the British Expedition to Abyssinia [11]
Fridolin Anderwert   Switzerland 1880 Yes Adverse press coverage, depression, exhaustion [12]
José Manuel Balmaceda  Chile 1891 No Gunshot Defeat in the Chilean Civil War of 1891 [13]
Nikolay Chkheidze  Georgia 1926 No Depression over the Bolsheviks' conquest of Georgia [14]
Germán Busch  Bolivia 1939 Yes Gunshot Political frustration [15]
Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski  Poland 1942 No Jumped off a building (disputed) [16]
Adolf Hitler  Germany 1945 Yes Gunshot Pending defeat in the European theatre of World War II [17]
Omer Nishani (disputed whether suicide)  Albania 1954 No Gunshot Poor health, political failure [18][19]
Getúlio Vargas  Brazil 1954 Yes Gunshot Opposition from the military [20]
Salvador Allende  Chile 1973 Yes Gunshot (disputed) Military coup [21][22][23]
Chivu Stoica  Romania 1975 No Gunshot Out of favour with leadership of the Romanian Communist Party [24]
Carlos Prío Socarrás (disputed whether suicide)  Cuba 1977 No Gunshot (disputed) Faced questioning by the House Select Committee on Assassinations [25][26]
Antonio Guzmán Fernández  Dominican Republic 1982 Yes Gunshot Corruption allegations [27][28]
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado  Cuba 1983 No Gunshot Poor health, bereavement [29]
Lazarus Salii  Palau 1988 Yes Gunshot Corruption allegations [30]
Zviad Gamsakhurdia (disputed whether suicide)  Georgia 1993 No Gunshot Defeat in the Georgian Civil War [31][32]
Dipendra  Nepal 2001 Yes Gunshot Unknown: had just killed nine family members [33]
Carlos Roberto Reina  Honduras 2003 No Gunshot Ill-health [34]
Milan Babić  Serbian Krajina 2006 No Hanging Imprisonment over war crimes [35]
Roh Moo-hyun  South Korea 2009 No Jumped off a cliff Corruption allegations [36]
Alan García Pérez  Peru 2019 No Gunshot Allegations of corruption [37]
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Islamic State 2019 Yes Explosives 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 the Greek War of Independence and execution threat [38]
Bhimsen Thapa Nepal 1839 No Slit throat with a kukri Disgrace of third wife [39]
Iosif Adamovich  Belarus 1937 No Gunshot Being taken to Moscow under arrest [40]
Walery Sławek  Poland 1939 No Gunshot Political failure [41][42]
Pál Teleki  Hungary 1941 Yes Gunshot Distress over entry of German troops into Hungary [43][44]
Alexandros Koryzis  Greece 1941 Yes Gunshot German invasion of Greece [45]
Joseph Goebbels  Germany 1945 No Gunshot or cyanide Defeat in European theatre of World War II [46][47]
Fumimaro Konoe  Japan 1945 No Cyanide Accused of war crimes [48]
Johannes Vares (disputed whether suicide)  Estonia 1946 No Gunshot Disillusion with Soviet system [49][50]
Tawfik Abu Al-Huda  Jordan 1956 No Hanging [51][52]
John McEwen  Australia 1980 No Starvation (refused food) Ill-health [53][54]
Mehmet Shehu (disputed whether suicide)  Albania 1981 Yes Gunshot (disputed) Nervous breakdown [55][56]
Hailu Yimenu  Ethiopia 1991 or 1993 No Avoiding capture by the EPRDF [57][58]
Pierre Bérégovoy  France 1993 No Gunshot Depression and being investigated [59]
Mahmoud Zuabi  Syria 2000 No Gunshot Allegations of corruption [60]
Alan García Pérez  Peru 2019 No Gunshot Allegations of corruption [37]

References[]

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