# Jim Jones

> American cult leader (1931–1978)

**Wikidata**: [Q213861](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q213861)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/jim-jones

## Summary
Jim Jones (1931–1978) was an American cult leader and pastor who founded the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement established in 1955. He is most notoriously known for establishing the Jonestown community in Guyana, where a mass death event occurred on November 18, 1978, resulting in the deaths of Jones and over 900 of his followers.

## Biography
- Born: May 13, 1931
- Died: November 18, 1978
- Nationality: United States
- Education: Butler University, Indiana University Bloomington
- Known for: Founding and leading the Peoples Temple; the Jonestown mass casualty event
- Occupations: Cult leader, pastor, volunteer
- Aliases: James Warren Jones, James Jones

## Contributions
Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in 1955 in the United States, building a new religious movement that attracted a significant following over more than two decades. He established Jonestown in Guyana in 1974 as a communal settlement for his followers. Jones's leadership ended catastrophically on November 18, 1978, when a mass death event at Jonestown claimed the lives of over 900 individuals, including Jones himself.

## FAQs
**What was the Peoples Temple?**
The Peoples Temple was a new religious movement founded by Jim Jones in 1955 in the United States. It is now a defunct organization.

**What happened at Jonestown?**
Jonestown was a community established by the Peoples Temple in Guyana in 1974. On November 18, 1978, it became the site of a mass death event that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.

**Where did Jim Jones study?**
Jones attended Butler University, a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Indiana University Bloomington, a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana.

**What roles did Jim Jones hold?**
Jones was a cult leader, a pastor providing pastoral care in a Christian context, and a participant in voluntary community work.

## Why They Matter
Jim Jones remains a globally recognized figure in the study of cults, new religious movements, and mass psychology. The Jonestown event of November 18, 1978, stands as one of the largest mass death events in modern history, fundamentally shaping public understanding of the dangers of authoritarian leadership and communal isolation. The Peoples Temple's rise and violent end continue to influence academic research, law enforcement training, and public discourse on religious extremism.

## Notable For
- Founder of the Peoples Temple (1955), a defunct new religious movement
- Establisher of Jonestown in Guyana (1974)
- Central figure in the November 18, 1978, mass death event at Jonestown
- Documented in numerous international library and identification systems, including the Library of Congress (n79017289), VIAF (10637491), and ISNI (0000000122087264)
- Subject of extensive global documentation with 51 Wikipedia sitelinks across multiple languages

## Body

### Early Life
Jim Jones was born James Warren Jones on May 13, 1931, in the United States.

### Education
Jones attended Butler University, a private institution in Indianapolis, Indiana, established in 1855 with approximately 1,272 employees. He also attended Indiana University Bloomington, a public research university founded in 1820, which serves as the flagship campus of the Indiana University system and employs approximately 9,216 people.

### The Peoples Temple
In 1955, Jones founded the Peoples Temple in the United States. The organization operated as a new religious movement with Jones serving as its leader and pastor, providing pastoral care in a Christian context. Members participated as volunteers in the organization's activities.

### Jonestown
In 1974, Jones established Jonestown, a community in Guyana (South America) for members of the Peoples Temple. The settlement was intended as a communal living experiment.

### November 18, 1978
On November 18, 1978, a mass death event occurred at Jonestown. Jim Jones died on this date at the age of 47. The event resulted in the deaths of over 900 individuals and is widely recognized as one of the deadliest such incidents involving American citizens.

### Identifiers and Legacy
Jones is cataloged in numerous knowledge systems worldwide, including Wikidata, MusicBrainz (0d3fb04b-1e71-455b-b8de-20d6126b2eff), IMDb (nm0428385), Britannica (biography/Jim-Jones), and many national library databases. He is classified in knowledge bases as a human, a cult leader, a pastor, a volunteer, a murderer, and a rapist.

## References

1. Pentecostal preaching and prophetic politics: when the 'End' really does justify the means
2. International Standard Name Identifier
3. Virtual International Authority File
4. MusicBrainz
5. Find a Grave
6. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
7. SNAC
8. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
9. BBC Things