Antoine Vergote

In 1998, Vergote was made an honorary member of the Italian Society of the Psychology of Religion (Società Italiana di Psicologia della Religione).

Vergote has been acclaimed "the most eminent figure in the field of the psychology of religion" whose "deep understanding of the psychodynamics analysis of the religious attitude was supported not only by his vast knowledge of philosophical and theological anthropology (Vergote, 1974), but also by the vast and refined empirical analysis which he himself conducted". In the view of Professor Jacob Belzen (University of Amsterdam), Vergote is "a key figure" in European intellectual movements during the 20th century.

Vergote's interest in psychoanalysis evolved from his philosophical background. In 1958 Vergote had already published an article on the question of why philosophers should be interested in Freudian psychoanalysis, especially those interested in Husserl's phenomenology. This phenomenology would be a returning point of reference throughout his writings.

Antoine Vergote (8 December 1921 – 10 October 2013), also known as Antoon Vergote, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher, psychologist and psychoanalyst. He was an Emeritus Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven. His extensive publications span multiple disciplines including psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, philosophical anthropology, linguistics, theology, cultural anthropology, and phenomenology.

Antoine Vergote was born on 8 December 1921, in the Belgian city of Courtray in the Flemish province of West Flanders. After receiving his graduate degrees from the University of Louvain in 1954, he continued his education in Paris where he studied with Levi-Strauss, attended the lectures of Merleau-Ponty, and completed his analytic training under the direction of Jacques Lacan.