This is a chronological list of people who committed self-immolation, the act of setting themselves on fire, for political reasons. Non-political self-immolations are not included in the list.

Background

Self-immolation is commonly understood as suicide by means of fire, although some scholars refer to the practice using the term "auto-cremation". The act of self-immolation has historical roots extending back centuries. Self-immolation was undertaken by a group of Christians around 300 A.D., who chose to burn themselves before Roman authorities could enact an execution order issued by Emperor Diocletian. Jack Downey, a professor of religious studies at the University of Rochester who specializes in the study of self-immolation as a form of protest, notes that there has long been debate over whether the act's extreme nature ultimately overshadows or detracts from the intended message of the protest itself.

List

1940s Date Name Age Country Protesting Notes and referencesKuo-shun – (Communist-controlled Zone)Persecution of Buddhists and destruction of sacred objects by the government of Mao ZedongBuddhist monk from Vietnam. In the city of Harbin, he sat in the lotus position on a pile of sawdust and soybean oil and immolated himself.

1950s Date Name Age Country Protesting Notes and referencesPoh Kwong – Loss of money intended to build a new hospital, was possibly swindled through government corruptionBuddhist monk from China. In the city of Bangkok, he sat on a five-foot (1.5 m) pyre and attempted to immolate himself before being stopped by police.

1960s

Date Name Age Country Protesting Notes and references 66 Persecution of Buddhists by the government of Ngô Đình Diệm Led to several other monks and nuns committing the same act. Before Diệm was toppled, the photo, photographed by Malcolm Browne, became well-associated with his political protest.20sBuddhist monk. immolated himself in the town center of Phan Thiết. Government soldiers removed his body before other monks could recover it.17Buddhist novice monk.–Buddhist nun. Immolated herself in the courtyard of Từ Đàm Pagoda in Huế.71Buddhist monk. He soaked his robes in gasoline and immolated himself in the courtyard of Từ Đàm Pagoda in Huế. Before, he announced over the loudspeaker that he was going to commit suicide in demand for Buddhist rights. After his death (the third self-immolation in one week), the government declared martial law, sparking more Buddhist protests.35–45Buddhist monk. Dressed in civilian clothing, he was dropped off by a motorcyclist in front of a Catholic cathedral in Saigon, where he squatted in a lotus-fashion, poured gasoline in his lap and struck a match. unidentified female Vietnam War Three men immolated themselves in the next week, all for personal reasons. 27 Imposition of Hindi over the Tamil language Inspired 5 other self-immolations.21Hotel workerMadras city government employee33Worked in Madras for the Telephone Department.26School headmaster21Farmer20Student 82 Vietnam War Women Strike for Peace member. Immolated herself on a street corner in Detroit, Michigan.April 20, 1965Thich Giac ThanhBuddhist monk62Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of KoreaWorked for a minor political party. Immolated himself on the steps of the Seoul Capitol.36Vietnam WarJapanese American. Immolated herself in San Diego, California.Hiroko Hayashi's name is frequently misspelled, either as Hiroko Hayaski from Zaroulis and Sullivan's Who spoke up?:American protest against the war in Vietnam, 1963-1975 and as Hiroko Hayasaki in Donaldson's "The Self Immolators". See Woman Ignites Self With Gasoline in "San Diego Evening Tribune", October 12, 1967 and Craig and Joan: Two lives for peace (1971) 31 Quaker from Baltimore. Committed act below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office in front of his one-year-old daughter. 22 Catholic Worker. Immolated himself in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.24Mother whose 3-month-old daughter died in October 1965. Her brother had also died in the Korean War. Immolated herself in front of her home in South Bend, Indiana. Survived.26Government refusal to let him fight in the Vietnam WarDied on April 10.55Government of Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and United States support of the regime (Buddhist Uprising)Buddhist nun.58Buddhist laywoman. Immolated herself in pagoda in Saigon. Thousands were present, and monks covered her body with a Buddhist flag.19Buddhist nun. Immolated herself in Huế.Name missing–Buddhist monk immolated himself in Da Lat.17Buddhist laywoman. Immolated herself outside a pagoda in Huế.Name missing–BuddhistName missing–26Buddhist nuns. Immolated themselves in the courtyard of a small pagoda in Da Nang.24–Name missing–Novice Buddhist monk. Immolated himself in Quảng TrịWoman; name missing– 70 Destruction of the Famen Temple Buddhist monk 34 Vietnam War Buddhist nun 33 Navy veteran. –1967 South Vietnamese presidential electionBuddhist nunWoman; name missing– 55 Vietnam War –1967 South Vietnamese presidential electionBuddhist nun– 73 Vietnam War Esperantist明日への葬列—60年代反権力闘争に斃れた10人の遺志 – 高橋和巳 編集、合同出版 1970年Japan 1968: The Performance of Violence and the Theater of Protest (AHR)27Zen Buddhist. Immolated himself in Sunnyvale, California.20Immolated himself outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City, replicating Roger LaPorte's death two years earlier. Died on December 12.Pham Van Qui28Buddhist layman immolated himself outside pagoda.Ronald Brazee16Student. Died 5 weeks later.Kazuo Shirakawa17Burned self with kerosene outside the U.S. consulate in Osaka. Died 12 hours later. 59 Poland's participation in Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Died 4 days later.Michaele Burrazzo40UnemploymentSurvived. 40 Soviet rule in Ukraine Immolated himself on Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main street, while shouting "Colonialism out of Ukraine!" and "Long live a free Ukraine!" 20 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Student. Inspired other self-immolations in Soviet satellite states. 17 Communist rule in Hungary and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Died 3 days later25Warsaw Pact invasion of CzechoslovakiaBlue-collar worker. Immolated himself in Plzeň. Died 5 days later.–Blue-collar worker. Referenced Jan Palach. Immolated himself in Brno.16Apprentice. Referenced Jan Palach. Immolated himself in Cheb.19Survived.45Soviet rule in Ukraineunidentified male–Nationalism17Anger against capitalist systemSurvived. 19 Communist rule in Czechoslovakia Student 30 Nigerian Civil War Woman, apparently obsessed with Biafra, set herself on fire and died outside the Nigerian embassy in Paris. 39 Communist rule in Czechoslovakia Businessman 20 Survived. Later became professor of mathematics. 19 Soldier James Fleming 23 Died in June 1969 of his injuries. 20 Genocide against Biafra in the Nigerian Civil War Columbia University student. Died several hours later.Tom Adams48Dispute with unionUnknown male17Transportation faresSet himself on fire in Saarbrücken after more than a week of protests. Survived.Jan Polášek19Communist rule in CzechoslovakiaSurvived self-immolation in Brno.Tony Frain29Perceived police discrimination against his familySurvived after setting himself ablaze outside Scotland Yard.

1970s Date Name Age Country Protesting Notes and references 17 Nigerian Civil War Inspired many other self-immolations in France. 18 "Wars and the follies of men" Attended the same school in Lille as Regis, the previous self-immolator. 28 Communist rule in Romania Ottavio Zacchigna 18 Pacifism and protest against wars Died in March 1970 of his injuries. Leo Courtney 37 Support for the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia 61 Climate crisis inaction Writer, activist and translator who set himself on fire near the Eulogio Sánchez Airport.May 6, 1970Robert Rex Vice27Vietnam War and Kent State ShootingsNon-student protester at Wabash College demonstration. Died later in hospital. 23 Vietnam War Student at the University of California, San Diego. Died the following day.24Buddhist nunThich Thien Nhu21Buddhist monk. 22 Military rule in Greece Student at the University of Genoa 54 Bombing of Guernica in 1937. Independence of the Basque Country. Survived unidentified male – Communist rule in Czechoslovakia 22 Labor conditions and the government's opposition to reform Edmondo Unterhausen 18 Vietnam War Adil Kartal 25 Protest against government –Vietnam WarBuddhist nuns–Man; name missing–Vietnam War veterans37–Buddhist nunOlive Parry66VivisectionSelf-immolated on the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.–Vietnam WarBuddhist nun 19 Communist rule in Lithuania Inspired largest post-war riots in occupied Lithuania and the USSR and 13 other self-immolations24Immolated himself in Varėna. 28 French Canadian novelist who publicly immolated herself in Montreal while screaming "You have destroyed the beauty of the world!" unidentified male 37 Protest against European Common Market and his unemployment Survived with extensive second-degree burns.September 30, 1972Józef Dolak26 or 27Protest against Communist rule in PolandProbably followed the example of Jan Palach Willie B. Phillips 27 Racism against African-Americans Immolated himself at Atlanta parade. Died in hospital.–Vietnam WarBuddhist nun 33 Anti-Communism Vietnam War veteran discharged with wounds. Immolated himself in front of the National Assembly. Died at scene. 19 Communist rule in Lithuania In Soviet Army barracks in Gulbene, Latvia. Died the following day. 47 Communist repression of religion in East Germany Lutheran pastor 27 Communism Member of the Party of New Forces, a neo-fascist political party. Protest against Torrijos–Carter Treaties A Panamanian national immolated himself in front of the U.S. embassy in Stockholm. 37 Atomic policy 65 Communist rule in Ukraine Erika Ruppert 24 Political protest Ruppert and Kleinknecht wrote a letter a day before their act in which they explained the reasoning behind their decision, and their affiliation with Ananda Marga. The next morning, they doused themselves with gasoline and Immolated themselves at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. Helmut Kleinknecht 28 Andre Kilchinski 41 Protest against Nazism Occurred on Holocaust Day. Rescued with slight burns. Elizabeth Weniger 25 Political protest Swiss-born Elizabeth Weniger immolated herself at Rizal Park in Manila after distributing leaflets explaining her reasons. 46 Discrimination against Crimean Tatars in the Soviet residence permission system, which prohibited nearly all Crimean Tatars who were deported in 1944 from returning to their place of birth Mamut was born and raised Crimea until the NKVD deported all Crimean Tatars to Central Asia in May 1944. He returned to Crimea in 1975 and was later arrested and charged for not having a residence permit to live there, despite being born in the peninsula; the residence permit system was designed to prevent exiled Crimean Tatars from returning to their homeland. Then police came to arrest him on 23 June 1978 Mamut immolated himself rather than being deported again and died 5 days later.September 17, 1978Rolf Günther41Probably protest against repression of religion in East Germany, maybe also internal church conflictsSet himself on fire in front of 300 people after revealing a banner that read "finally wake up!" 24 Social protest Lynette Phillips had previously planned to self-immolate outside the British Houses of Parliament in London, but upon receiving word of this, British authorities deported her. She changed her plan and decided to self-immolate outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. She protested against "inhumanity, injustice and irrationality prevalent in our society". She died at the scene. 40 Against US-Taiwan decoupling Taken to hospital in poor condition.

1980s