Scientist, writer, melancholic, aesthetician - Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2009) not only made history in science but also changed our perspective on ourselves and the world. In her award-winning biography, historian Emmanuelle Loyer explores the life and intellectual journey of the world-famous anthropologist. Based on previously unpublished sources, Loyer compellingly depicts Lévi-Strauss's personality and development: his childhood in a Jewish assimilated family, his promising youth and studies, as well as his initial political and intellectual explorations. This is followed by the now legendary expedition into the heart of Brazil, exile in America, and the establishment of structuralism. After the war and his return to France, the time of writing, fame, and honors begins.