French · 1901–1981
French psychoanalyst who rewrote Freud through linguistics and made difficulty a style. Born in Paris, he trained as a psychiatrist before elaborating a system that made the unconscious "structured like a language." The Écrits collect his impenetrable essays; his seminars continued for decades. He split from the psychoanalytic establishment and founded his own school. The concepts—the mirror stage, the Real, the Name-of-the-Father—shaped theory across humanities. Whether he was profound or charlatan remains debated; his influence is inarguable.