Slavoj Žižek
7 min read
Reading time
1,249
Words
Published
29
Film credits
60
Books
2
Awards
Slavoj Zizek was born on March 21, 1949 in Ljubljana. He hosted The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema 2006 and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology 2012, and appeared in the 2021 film Bliss. He holds professorships at the European Graduate School and the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities, and has received the Ambassador of Science of the Republic of Slovenia award.
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Slavoj Zizek — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Slavoj Zizek attended Bežigrad Grammar School in Ljubljana, his birthplace on March 21, 1949, then part of Yugoslavia. He later studied at the University of Ljubljana and Paris 8 University, where he immersed himself in Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxist theory.
Zizek hosted The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema in 2006, applying psychoanalysis to film. In 2012 he hosted The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, analyzing ideology through popular culture. He appeared as himself in the 2021 feature film Bliss. He also appeared in documentaries including Risk 2017 and Houston, We Have a Problem! 2016. He serves as a professor at the European Graduate School and the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities.
Zizek pronounces his surname Žižek as ZHEE-zhek. He holds professorships at the European Graduate School and the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities, and is a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s institute of sociology. He gives frequent lectures and publishes writings.
Zizek received the Ambassador of Science of the Republic of Slovenia award and the Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes. His documentaries The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology have influenced contemporary film theory. As of 2025, he is among the most cited living philosophers.
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A wall of memorable lines from Slavoj Zizek — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Agree with Sophocles: the Greatest Luck Is Not to Have Been Born But, as the Joke Goes On, Very Few People Succeed in It.
Most People Think I’m Making Jokes, Exaggerating but No, I’m Not. It’s Not That. First I Tell Jokes, Then I’m Serious. No, the Art Is to Bring the Serious Message into the Forum of Jokes.
I Always Emphasize: Don’t Expect This from Me. I Don’t Think That the Task of a Guy Like Me Is to Propose Complete Solutions. When People Ask Me What to Do with the Economy, What the Hell Do I Know? I Think the Task of People Like Me Is Not to Provide Answers but to Ask the Right Questions.
I’m a Pessimist in the Sense That We Are Approaching Dangerous Times. but I’m an Optimist for Exactly the Same Reason. Pessimism Means Things Are Getting Messy. Optimism Means These Are Precisely the Times When Change Is Possible.
Cut All Your Roots, That Is the Solution.
Little-known facts about Slavoj Zizek — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Slavoj Zizek’s surname is pronounced ZHEE-zhek, with the Z with caron representing a voiced palato-alveolar sound found in several Slavic languages.
As of 2008, Zizek holds professorships at the European Graduate School and the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities, and is a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s institute of sociology.
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