Epicurus
Bio
Society of Friends of Epicurus:
"Our Hegemon (or philosophical School leader), Epicurus, son of Neocles, was born in 341 BCE in an Athenian settlement on the island of Samos, in the Aegean Sea. Dissatisfied with the religious superstitions of his time, he turned to philosophy at a young age in order to understand the nature of the universe and find purpose in life. Having traveled around the Mediterranean for many years, studied under different teachers and recruited many followers of his own, he started his own philosophical school largely inspired by the atomistic philosophy of Democritus.
He finally settled in Athens where he founded the philosophical school called the Garden, which would become a major rival to the schools of Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics. Epicurus died in 270 BCE from stone blockage of his urinary tract. It was a slow and painful death but according to the tradition Epicurus remained cheerful due to the good memories of his life with his friends."