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

A number of heads of state and heads of government have taken their own lives, either while in office or after leaving office. National leaders who take their own lives while in office generally do so because their leadership is somehow threatened – for instance, by a coup or an invading army. Some have done so under compulsion.

## Heads of state

| Name | State | Year | In office? | Method | (Probable) motive |
| 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 |
| Rusa I | Urartu | 714 BC | Yes | Stabbing | Defeat by Sargon II, looting of Musasir |
| Midas | Phrygia | 676 BC? | Yes | Poisoning | Impending defeat by the Cimmerians |
| Šamaš-šuma-ukin (disputed) | Babylonia | 648 BC | Yes | Immolation | Defeat by Ashurbanipal |
| Cheng | Chu | 626 BC | Yes | Hanging | Palace coup by Prince Shangchen |
| Sîn-šar-iškun (disputed) | Assyria | 612 BC | Yes | | Defeat by Nabopolassar |
| Ling | Chu | 529 BC | Yes | Hanging | Palace coup by Duke Qiji of Cai |
| Psamtik III | Egypt | 525 BC | No | Poisoning | Defeated and deposed by the Achaemenid king Cambyses II |
| Cleomenes I (disputed) | Sparta | 490 BC | Yes | Mutilation by sword | Imprisonment on grounds of insanity |
| Fuchai | Wu | 473 BC | Yes | Hanging or slitting throat (disputed) | Defeat by Goujian of Yue |
| Chetaka | Licchavi Republic | 468 BC | Yes | Drowning | Defeat by Ajatashatru of Magadha |
| Huai | Qin | 425 BC | Yes | | Compelled after palace coup |
| Chandragupta Maurya (disputed) | Maurya Empire | 295 BC | No | Starvation (sallekhana) | Piety |
| Cleomenes III | Sparta | 219 BC | No | | Failure of revolt against Ptolemy IV |
| Qin Er Shi | Qin dynasty | 207 BC | Yes | | Compelled after palace coup by Zhao Gao |
| Xiang Yu | Chu | 202 BC | Yes | Slitting throat | Defeat by Liu Bang at the Battle of Gaixia |
| An Dương Vương | Âu Lạc | 179 BC | Yes | Drowning | Defeat by Zhao Tuo |
| Quintus Fulvius Flaccus | Roman Republic | 172 BC | No | Hanging | Depression after death of son |
| Diaeus | Achaean League | 146 BC | Yes | Poisoning | Defeat by Romans under Lucius Mummius |
| Diodotus Tryphon (disputed) | Seleucid Empire | 138 BC | Yes | | Defeat by Antiochus VII Sidetes |
| Gaius Papirius Carbo | Roman Republic | 119 BC | No | Poisoning | Prosecution for treason |
| Gnaeus Papirius Carbo | Roman Republic | 112 BC | No | Poisoning | Prosecution for losing the Battle of Noreia |
| Gaius Marius the Younger | Roman Republic | 82 BC | Yes | | Defeat at the Battle of the Colline Gate and impending capture by Sulla |
| Gaius Norbanus | Roman Republic | 82 BC | No | | Threat of extradition from Rhodes after proscription by Sulla |
| Mithridates VI Eupator | Pontus | 63 BC | Yes | Stabbed by bodyguard on command after failed poisoning | Impending defeat by rebellion |
| Ptolemy of Cyprus | Cyprus | 58 BC | Yes | Poisoning | Threat of Roman annexation |
| Juba I | Numidia | 46 BC | Yes | Duel as part of suicide pact with Marcus Petreius | Impending defeat by Julius Caesar after the Battle of Thapsus |
| Mark Antony | Roman Republic | 30 BC | No | Stabbing | Defeat by Octavian at the Battle of Alexandria |
| Cleopatra VII Philopator | Ptolemaic Kingdom | 30 BC | Yes | Poisoning | Death of Mark Antony and defeat by Octavian |
| Nero | Roman Empire | 68 | Yes | Stabbing (assisted by Epaphroditus) | Impending overthrow |
| Otho | Roman Empire | 69 | Yes | Stabbing | Impending defeat by Vitellius |
| Decebalus | Dacia | 106 | Yes | Slitting throat | Defeat by Trajan |
| Uthiyan Cheralathan | Chera dynasty | 130? | Yes | Starvation (vaṭakkiruttal) | Defeat by Karikala at the Battle of Venni |
| Gordian I | Roman Empire | 238 | Yes | Hanging | Death of son and co-emperor Gordian II at the Battle of Carthage |
| Sun Liang | Eastern Wu | 260 | No | | Accused of plotting to assassinate successor after deposition |
| Bongsang | Goguryeo | 300 | Yes | Hanging | Palace coup owing to popular unrest |
| Maximian | Roman Empire | 310 | No | Hanging | Failure of rebellion against Constantine I |
| Diocletian (disputed) | Roman Empire | 312? | No | Starvation | Fear of reprisal by Constantine I |
| Li Qi | Cheng Han | 338 | No | Hanging | Palace coup and deposition by Li Shou |
| Lü Shao | Later Liang | 400 | Yes | | Palace coup by Lü Zuan |
| Juqu Mujian | Northern Liang | 447 | No | | Compelled by Taiwu of Northern Wei on suspicion of plotting rebellion |
| Yujiulü Anagui | Rouran Khaganate | 552 | Yes | | Defeat by Turkic rebellion led by Bumin Qaghan |
| Gao Wei | Northern Qi | 577? | No | | Compelled by Wu of Northern Zhou on suspicion of plotting rebellion |
| Kōbun | Japan | 672 | Yes | Strangulation | Defeat by Prince Ōama in Jinshin War |
| Huigang | Silla | 838 | Yes | Hanging | Impending defeat by rebels under Kim Myeong |
| Zhangxin Qaghan | Uyghur Khaganate | 839 | Yes | | Defeat by Zhuyue Chixin |
| Zhu Yougui | Later Liang | 913 | Yes | | Palace coup by Zhu Youzhen |
| Zhu Youzhen | Later Liang | 923 | Yes | | Impending defeat by Later Tang |
| Gyeongae | Silla | 927 | Yes | | Compelled after defeat by Kyŏn Hwŏn |
| Li Congke | Later Tang | 937 | Yes | Immolation | Impending defeat by Taizong of Liao |
| Marasimha II | Western Ganga dynasty | 975 | No | Starvation (sallekhana) | Failure against Siyaka and Tailapa II, piety |
| Indra IV | Rashtrakuta | 982 | No | Starvation (sallekhana) | Collapse of Rashtrakuta, failure against Tailapa II, piety |
| Jayapala | Hindu Shahis | 1001 | No | Immolation | Defeat by Mahmud of Ghazni and abdication |
| Someshvara I | Western Chalukya Empire | 1068 | Yes | Drowning | Defeat by Virarajendra Chola and illness |
| Ananta | Lohara dynasty | 1081 | No | Stabbing | Breakdown of relationship with son and successor Kalaśa after abdication |
| Zhang Bangchang | Da Chu | 1127 | No | Hanging | Compelled by Gaozong of Song after abdication |
| Aizong | Jin dynasty | 1234 | Yes | Hanging | Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty |
| Prataparudra | Kakatiya dynasty | 1323 | Yes | | Defeat and capture by the Delhi Sultanate |
| Bayezid I | Ottoman Empire | 1403 | No | | Defeat and imprisonment by Timur |
| Tezozomoctli | Cuauhtitlan | 1430 | Yes | Poisoning | Defeat in the Tepanec War |
| Hasan Ali | Qara Qoyunlu | 1469 | Yes | | Defeat by Uzun Hasan |
| Moquihuix (disputed) | Tlatelolco | 1473 | Yes | Jumped off pyramid | Defeat by Aztecs in the Battle of Tlatelolco |
| Lê Cung Hoàng | Lê dynasty | 1527 | No | Hanging | Compelled after palace coup by Mạc Đăng Dung |
| Muzaffar Shah III | Gujarat | 1592 | No | Slitting throat | Capture by Mughal forces after failed rebellion |
| Chongzhen Emperor | Ming dynasty | 1644 | Yes | Hanging or suffocation (disputed) | Impending defeat by rebels under Li Zicheng |
| Lê Duy Phường | Lê dynasty | 1735 | No | Hanging | Compelled after palace coup by Trịnh Giang |
| Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve | France | 1794 | No | Gunshot | Impending arrest after proscription |
| Philippe Rühl | France | 1795 | No | Stabbing | Prosecution after failure of Prairial uprising |
| Louis-Joseph Charlier | France | 1797 | No | Gunshot | Mental breakdown |
| Osei Kwame Panyin | Ashanti Empire | 1803 | No | Poisoning or strangulation (disputed) | Deposition by Konadu Yaadom |
| Henri Christophe | Haiti | 1820 | Yes | Gunshot | Poor health, impending overthrow |
| Juan Larrea | Argentina | 1847 | No | Gunshot or slitting throat (disputed) | Business failure |
| Anson Jones | Texas | 1858 | No | Gunshot | Political failure |
| Talal bin Abdullah Al Rashid | Jabal Shammar | 1868 | Yes | Gunshot | Ill-health |
| Tewodros II | Ethiopia | 1868 | Yes | Gunshot | Defeated by the British Expedition to Abyssinia |
| Abdulaziz (disputed) | Ottoman Empire | 1876 | No | Arms cut by scissors | Forced abdication |
| Fridolin Anderwert | Switzerland | 1880 | Yes | Gunshot | Adverse press coverage, depression, exhaustion |
| José Manuel Balmaceda | Chile | 1891 | No | Gunshot | Defeat in the Chilean Civil War of 1891 |
| Nikolay Chkheidze | Georgia | 1926 | No | Slitting throat | Depression over the Bolsheviks' conquest of Georgia |
| Germán Busch | Bolivia | 1939 | Yes | Gunshot | Political frustration, depression |
| Otto Strandman | Estonia | 1941 | No | Gunshot | Impending arrest by NKVD |
| Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski | Poland | 1942 | No | Jumped off a building | Defeat of Poland and political frustration in exile |
| Adolf Hitler | Germany | 1945 | Yes | Gunshot | Pending defeat in the European theatre of World War II |
| Nguyen Van Thinh | French Cochinchina | 1946 | Yes | Hanging | Political failure |
| Omer Nishani (disputed) | Albania | 1954 | No | Gunshot | Poor health, political failure |
| Getúlio Vargas | Brazil | 1954 | Yes | Gunshot | Opposition from the military |
| Salvador Allende | Chile | 1973 | Yes | Gunshot | Military coup |
| Chivu Stoica | Romania | 1975 | No | Gunshot | Out of favour with leadership of the Romanian Communist Party |
| Carlos Prío Socarrás (disputed) | Cuba | 1977 | No | Gunshot | Faced questioning by the House Select Committee on Assassinations |
| Antonio Guzmán Fernández | Dominican Republic | 1982 | Yes | Gunshot | Corruption allegations |
| Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado | Cuba | 1983 | No | Gunshot | Poor health, bereavement |
| Lazarus Salii | Palau | 1988 | Yes | Gunshot | Corruption allegations |
| Zviad Gamsakhurdia (disputed) | Georgia | 1993 | No | Gunshot | Defeat in the Georgian Civil War |
| Dipendra | Nepal | 2001 | Yes | Gunshot | Unknown: had just killed nine family members |
| Carlos Roberto Reina | Honduras | 2003 | No | Gunshot | Ill-health |
| Milan Babić | Serbian Krajina | 2006 | No | Hanging | Imprisonment over war crimes |
| Roh Moo-hyun | South Korea | 2009 | No | Jumped off a cliff | Corruption allegations |
| Alan García Pérez | Peru | 2019 | No | Gunshot | Allegations of corruption |

## Heads of government

| Name | Country | Year | In office | Method | Probable motive |
| Hurshid Pasha | Ottoman Empire | 1822 | Yes | Poison | Defeat in the Greek War of Independence and execution threat |
| Bhimsen Thapa | Nepal | 1839 | No | Slit throat with a kukri | Disgrace of third wife |
| Abdul Muhsin al-Sa'dun | Iraq | 1929 | Yes | Gunshot | Political frustration |
| Iosif Adamovich | Byelorussian SSR | 1937 | No | Gunshot | Being taken to Moscow under arrest |
| Walery Sławek | Poland | 1939 | No | Gunshot | Political failure |
| Pál Teleki | Hungary | 1941 | Yes | Gunshot | Distress over entry of German troops into Hungary |
| Alexandros Koryzis | Greece | 1941 | Yes | Gunshot | German invasion of Greece |
| Joseph Goebbels | Germany | 1945 | No | Gunshot or cyanide | Defeat in European theatre of World War II |
| Fumimaro Konoe | Japan | 1945 | No | Cyanide | Accused of war crimes |
| Milan Nedić (disputed) | Serbia | 1946 | No | Jumped from prison window | Imprisonment after defeat in World War II |
| Johannes Vares (disputed) | Estonia | 1946 | No | Gunshot | Disillusion with Soviet system |
| Tawfik Abu Al-Huda | Jordan | 1956 | No | Hanging | Dying of cancer |
| John McEwen | Australia | 1980 | No | Starvation (refused food) | Ill-health |
| Mehmet Shehu (disputed) | Albania | 1981 | Yes | Gunshot | Nervous breakdown |
| Hailu Yimenu | Ethiopia | 1991 or 1993 | No | | Avoiding capture by the EPRDF |
| Pierre Bérégovoy | France | 1993 | No | Gunshot | Depression and being investigated |
| Mahmoud Zuabi | Syria | 2000 | No | Gunshot | Allegations of corruption |
| Alan García Pérez | Peru | 2019 | No | Gunshot | Allegations of corruption |
| Dries van Agt | Netherlands | 2024 | No | Assisted suicide | Poor health |