Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) is the key author of French sociology. With his aim to formulate an independent methodology for the science of the social, he establishes an entirely new discipline. He is well-known for his postulate that social facts should be treated like "things," his sociological interpretation of "suicide," and his thesis that religion is a "self-deification" of society. Durkheim and his school were innovative in terms of social theory, methodology, epistemology, and terminology. His thesis of a functionally differentiated modernity with its own forms of "solidarity" and "cult" has influenced our self-perception. Durkheim is the French classic of social sciences and remains relevant to this day.