Jacques Lacan

Jacques Marie Emile Lacan lived from 13 April 1901 to 9 September 1981 and was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist described as the most controversial psychoanalyst since Freud, who gave annual seminars in Paris from 1952 to 1980 later collected in the book Ecrits, with transcriptions of the 1953 to 1980 seminars also published; his work made a significant impact on continental philosophy and cultural theory in post-structuralism, critical theory, feminist theory and film theory, as well as on the practice of psychoanalysis itself. Lacan discussed the whole range of Freudian concepts, emphasizing the philosophical dimension of Freud's thought and applying concepts derived from structuralism in linguistics and anthropology to his own work, which he augmented with predicate logic and topology; this new direction, and controversial innovations in clinical practice, led to the expulsion of Lacan and his followers from the International Psychoanalytic Association, after which he established new psychoanalytic institutions to promote his work, which he declared a return to Freud, in opposition to prevalent trends adapting Freud's ideas to social norms.