Johan Robeck[a] (1672–1739) was a Swedish-German theologian and philosopher who justified and committed suicide.
He wrote a book permitting suicide from a theological point of view, entitled Exercitatio philosophica de morte voluntaria (A philosophical exercise about voluntary death, 1736).
His book started a debate among Europeans of his time, which included Rousseau[1] and Voltaire, especially after he himself committed suicide by drowning in the river Weser near Bremen, Germany.
[2] Robeck's suicide is referenced in the old woman's story at the end of chapter XII in Voltaire's 1759 novel Candide, "...but I have met only twelve who have voluntarily put an end to their misery—three negroes, four Englishmen, four Swiss, and a German professor called Robeck."
The Penguin Classics edition of Candide features an introduction by Michael Wood, who explains that "Robeck was a historical person who argued that loving life was ridiculous and sought to prove his point by drowning himself in 1739".