Jean-Bertrand Lefèvre-Pontalis (; 15 January 1924, Paris – 15 January 2013, Paris) was a French philosopher, writer, editor and psychoanalyst.

Career

A student of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

, Pontalis became a professor of philosophy in the 1940s, before undergoing an analysis with his associate

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

the following decade.sigourneyaward.org
/ref> He was, however, one of the minority group of disciples/analysands who did not follow Lacan into the

École Freudienne de Paris The École freudienne de Paris (EFP; English: "Freudian School of Paris") was a French psychoanalytic professional body formed in 1964 by Jacques Lacan. It became 'a vital—if conflict-ridden—institution until its dissolution in 1980'. Early hi ...

, but rather stayed within the legitimist sphere as founding members of the

Association Psychanalytique de France Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

, of which he later became president. Together with

Jean Laplanche Jean Laplanche (; 21 June 1924 – 6 May 2012) was a French author, psychoanalyst and winemaker. Laplanche is best known for his work on psychosexual development and Sigmund Freud's seduction theory, and wrote more than a dozen books on psych ...

, he wrote the influential work ''The Language of Psychoanalysis'' in 1967; while among his later, more literary writings were ''Windows'' and ''Crossing the Shadows''. His 1993 autobiography, ''Love of Beginnings'', was deliberately ahistorical, emphasising what he called "holes" in discourse, where the process of slipping through or evading set formats and ways of thinking opened up new beginnings: "When words fail, it is because, without realising it, one is about to touch a different earth".Quoted in S. Kay, ''Parrots and Nightingales'' (2013) p. 21

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand Writers from Paris 1924 births 2013 deaths Lycée Henri-IV alumni French psychoanalysts 20th-century French writers 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers 20th-century French essayists Prix Médicis essai winners

Career

See also

References