Slavoj Žižek

Slovenian philosopher (born 1949) · Slovenia · Academics · also Czechia

Slavoj Žižek is read about 2,987 times a day, in 74 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare Claim

A Slovenian philosopher who explains Hegel and Lacan through Hitchcock and dirty jokes, building a global following by making continental theory sound like stand-up - and dividing rooms wherever he speaks.

Academics Academic Philosophy Politics News Broadcasting Movies Screenwriting 20th Century

A life in dates

2018Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas ArtesAward2004“I hate writing. I so intensely hate writing - I cannot tell you how much.”In their wordsConversations with Žižek by Slavoj Žižek and Glyn Daly (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), p. 42Read the whole statement

“I believe in clear-cut positions.”In their wordsConversations with Žižek by Slavoj Žižek and Glyn Daly (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), p. 45Read the whole statement

“They are trying as directly as possible to sell you experiences, i.e. what you are able to do with the car, not the car as a product itself.”In their wordsJuly 2004Interview in The Believer magazine, (July 2004)Read the whole statement

2003“As a Marxist, let me add: if anyone tells you Lacan is difficult, this is class propaganda by the enemy.”In their wordsLast remark in an interview for the CN8 show Nitebeat (2003)Read the whole statement

2002“We feel free because we lack the very language to articulate our unfreedom.”In their words"Introduction: The Missing Ink", in Welcome to the Desert of the Real!: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates (2002), p. 2Read the whole statement

1999“A spectre is haunting Western academia (...), the spectre of the Cartesian subject.”In their wordsThe Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology (London/New York: Verso, 1999), p. 1.Read the whole statement

1949Born21 March 1949

Also in Deutsch

Photos 4

Slavoj Žižek 2015 (cropped)

Slavoj Zizek

Slavoj-Zizek-by-Pablo-Secca

The Parallax View cover

In their own words 10

Slavoj Žižek

10 statements, newest first

I hate writing. I so intensely hate writing - I cannot tell you how much.
2004, Conversations with Žižek by Slavoj Žižek and Glyn Daly (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), p. 42, Own words
I believe in clear-cut positions.
2004, Conversations with Žižek by Slavoj Žižek and Glyn Daly (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), p. 45, Own words
With Lenin it was always a substantial commitment. I always have a certain admiration for people who are aware that somebody has to do the job.
2004, Conversations with Žižek by Slavoj Žižek and Glyn Daly (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), p. 50, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes2018

Ambassador of Science of the Republic of Slovenia

In their orbit 2

Spouse Renata Salecl

Spouse Jela Krečič

About this person

Born 21 March 1949, Žižek emerged from the Ljubljana School of Psychoanalysis, a Slovenian circle fusing German idealism with Lacanian thought and ideology critique. His 1989 book The Sublime Object of Ideology introduced that tradition to English readers and set the template: dense theory laced with pop culture and deliberate provocation. Over fifty books and hundreds of op-eds followed, written across five languages and delivered in a style equal parts obscene joke and philosophical grenade. He's held posts at New York University, the European Graduate School, and directed the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities in London until September 2025, all while remaining a senior researcher in Ljubljana. The mix of high theory and low humor has made him famous far beyond the seminar room - and guaranteed that half his audience thinks he's brilliant, the other half a charlatan.

Country

Slovenia

In common with Slavoj

Salma HayekAlso in Bliss (2021)

Larry CharlesAlso in Unexpurgated: Slavoj Zizek (2024)

Sophie FiennesAlso in The Pervert's Guide to Ideology (2012)

Peter WeibelAlso in Post-Socialism+Retro Avantgarde+Irwin (1997)

Miša MolkAlso in There Once Was a Land of Hard-working People (2013)

Bill NyeAlso in Bliss (2021)

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.