The Resume

(April 13, 1901-September 9, 1981)
Born in Paris, France
Psychoanalyst and philosopher
Called for a 'return to Freud'
Fused psychoanalysis with structural linguistics
Gave yearly seminars in Paris (1953-81)
Writings on psychoanalysis collected as 'Ecrits' (1966)

Why he might be annoying:

He fathered a daughter with his future second wife while still married to his first wife (1941).
His second wife, Sylvia, called him 'a domestic tyrant.'
He shortened sessions until he was seeing an average of ten patients in an hour, which was described by another doctor as 'psychoanalysis reduced to nothing.'
He was expelled from the International Psychoanalytic Association (1967).
Dylan Evans, a former Lacanian analyst, wrote, 'As I tried to make sense of Lacan's bizarre rhetoric, it became clearer to me that the obfuscatory language did not hide a deeper meaning, but was in fact a direct manifestation of the confusion inherent in Lacan's own thought.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He was an associate of the surrealists and published in their magazine 'Minotaure.'
He was Pablo Picasso's personal therapist during the 1930s.
Outside of psychoanalysis, he contributed to critical theory, feminist theory, and film theory.
'Ecrits' was included on Le Monde's list of the 100 most memorable books of the 20th Century.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 90]
• Camille Paglia Doesn't Like Me
• I am a Citizen of France
• I am an Atheist
• I Attended University of Paris
• I Died in 1981 (Ranked: 80)
• I Died in the City I Was Born In
• I Earned a Doctorate
• Influenced by Hannah Arendt
• Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century [1999] (Ranked: 76)
• Look at My Blackboard or Whiteboard
• Philosophers: 20th Century [1900-2000]
• Profiles 56251-56500 (Ranked: 56440)
• Psychologists

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying