Statue of St. Simon

On March 9, 1823, 63-year-old Saint-Simon felt extremely uneasy. He went from pain to despair, from despair to anger. He could no longer control himself. He angrily raised his gun and pointed it at his head...

Why did Saint-Simon commit suicide?

Saint-Simon was an outstanding French thinker in the early 19th century. Marx and Engels listed him as one of the three utopian socialists along with Fourier and Irving. He was born into a feudal aristocratic family in Paris, received a good education from an early age, and was particularly fond of studying philosophy. In 1789, the Great Bourgeois Revolution broke out in France, and Saint-Simon, 29, actively participated in the revolution out of dissatisfaction with the feudal system. However, the capitalist system established after the victory of the revolution only brought benefits to a small number of rich people and the big bourgeoisie. Those who are "idlers" still lead a lewd and shameless parasitic life, and the vast number of proletarians and working people still suffer. Therefore, Saint-Simon finally took a negative attitude towards capitalism, denouncing capitalist society as a "black-and-white world". He hoped to replace it with a new society that "only improves the lot of the poor class that makes up the majority of the population".

After some research, Saint-Simon finally outlined his ideal society, which he called the "industrial system." Under this system, everyone has to work, everyone has the right to work, and there is no unemployment. The principle of "calculating remuneration according to ability, and determining ability according to work efficiency" is implemented. Saint-Simon's theory on a new society later became an important ideological source of scientific socialism. However, at that time, it did not have a solid social foundation and was not understood and valued by people. It was often ridiculed and hit obstacles everywhere. Due to his lack of practical business skills, his family went bankrupt. Fortunately, he was taken in by his former servant and managed to make a living. Soon after the servant died, he became even more destitute. So he finally lost confidence in society and raised a pistol at himself...

Saint-Simon, however, did not die! His brilliant medical skills saved him from death. He was only blinded in one eye. Later, with the help of one of his students, the Jewish merchant Orlando Rodriguez, he barely escaped the difficulties of material life in his later years, until he died at the age of 65. His works are a precious intellectual treasure in the treasure trove of human culture.