Since is a nonzero associative algebra of finite dimension, it has a nonzero left ideal of least positive dimension. Such a minimal left ideal is a simple module under left multiplication.
For , right multiplication defines the module homomorphismIts kernel is a submodule of , so its image is either zero or a simple module isomorphic to . Each is a left ideal, since .
ConsiderIt is a left ideal. It is also stable under right multiplication, because , so it is a two-sided ideal. Moreover , giving . The assumption that is a simple ring therefore forces .
Only finitely many summands are needed: express each member of a finite basis of as a finite sum of elements of the , and collect the finitely many indices used. After discarding zero summands, is a finite sum of simple modules. Part (a)(ii) makes its left regular module a semisimple module. This is exactly the definition of a semisimple algebra, proving that a finite-dimensional simple algebra is semisimple. The finite dimension assumption is essential to this assertion about a simple ring.