Jacques Lacan.

French psychoanalyst. Lacan’s work emphasized that the unconscious has a structure like that of language and hence can be systematically examined, work that helped to make him the single most important figure in the development of psychoanalysis in twentieth century France. His powerful rereading of Freud and rethinking of Freud’s fundamental concepts made him a key figure in French intellectual life from the 1950’s until his death thirty years later. His work has affected philosophy, feminist theory, literary criticism, film studies, and cultural studies, among other fields.