Full Name: Epicurus
Known AS: Founder of the Epicurean School

Gender: Male
 
Father Name: Neocles (teacher)
Mother Name: Chairestrate
Marital Status: Never Married

 Date of Birth: 04 February 341 BC
Birth Place: Samos, Athens, Greece
 Date of Death: 270 BC (aged 72)
Death Place: Athens, Greece
Cause of Death: Kidney Stones

 Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Philosopher
Nationality: Ancient Greece
Major Writings: Letter on happiness, Epicurea

Influenced: Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Jefferson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Michel Onfray, David Hume, Philodemus, Michel Foucault, Pierre Gassendi, Han Ryner


Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 BC-270 BC) is one of the famous philosophers of the Hellenistic period. He is considered the founder of the Epicurean School. Epicurus was the first of the philosophers who supported the atomic theory. His works influenced most modern philosophers.

Early Life & Childhood: Epicurus was born on 04 February 341 BC in Samos, Athens, Greece after six years of Plato's death. He studied philosophy with a Platonist teacher named Pamphilus. At the age of 18, Epicurus moved to Athens where he served his military service for two years. After leaving his military service, he joined his family in Samos, Athens. Then he studied under Nausiphanes. After that, Epicurus moved to Lampsacus where he founded a school.

Personal Life: Epicurus's father Neocles was a teacher and his mother was named Chairestrate. His family immigrated to the Aegean island of Samos before few years of his birth. Epicurus never married.

Later Life & Death: In 306 BC, Epicurus returned to Athens and bought some land. He founded a school on this land named The Garden. Epicurus as well as his school showed indifference to the formal logic of Aristotle and the Stoics. Epicurus played an important role in the development of science and the scientific method. His ideas about nature and physics predicted the important scientific concepts of our present time. Epicurus died in 270 BC after suffering from kidney stones.