Gustave Le Bon
French polymath (1841–1931); wrote The Crowd (1895), a founding work of crowd psychology.
At a glance
Main ideas
The psychological crowd, Anonymity, contagion, suggestibility, A grain of sand …
See all 5Books to start with
La Civilisation des Arabes, Lois psychologiques de l'évolution des peuples, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind …
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Le Bon was a French polymath who worked in anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, invention and physics.
- He qualified as a doctor in Paris in 1866 but never practised.
- Defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune of 1871 shaped his views.
- In the 1890s he turned to psychology and sociology, and The Crowd became his best-known work.
- He was critical of majoritarianism and socialism.
Why it matters
- His theory of the crowd as a new psychological entity influenced Freud, propaganda theory and fascist leaders, and his picture of senseless crowds is still used by politicians, writes journalist Dan Hancox.
Key facts
- Born
- 7 May 1841, Nogent-le-Rotrou, France1
- Died
- 13 Dec 1931, Marnes-la-Coquette, aged 901
- Education
- Doctorate in medicine, University of Paris, 18661
- War
- Medical officer in the French Army in the Franco-Prussian War; organised a division of military ambulances1
- Travels
- Commissioned by the French government in 1884 to report on civilisations in Asia; the first Frenchman to visit Nepal1
- Honours
- Chevalier of the Legion of Honour after the war; Grand-Croix in 19291
Main ideas
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The psychological crowd1
A crowd is not the sum of its members but a new entity with a collective unconscious.
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Anonymity, contagion, suggestibility1
The three processes that turn individuals into a crowd.
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A grain of sand2
"An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will."
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Leaders1
Crowds take suggestions from their strongest members; leaders are "usually men of action rather than of words".
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Intra-atomic energy1
In L'Évolution des Forces (1907) he foresaw a force from inside the atom of colossal magnitude.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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La Civilisation des Arabes1
The first book from his travels in Asia.
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Lois psychologiques de l'évolution des peuples1
His first work of psychology.
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The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind1
Psychologie des Foules; the work he is best known for.
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Psychologie du Socialisme1
Followed The Crowd.
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L'Évolution de la Matière1
Anticipated mass–energy equivalence.
Connections
Links
Sources
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