Hervey M. Cleckley
Hervey Milton Cleckley was an American psychiatrist who significantly contributed to the study of psychopathy.
Born in 1903, he authored The Mask of Sanity in 1941, which became a seminal text in the field.
Cleckley's work provided the 20th century's most influential clinical description of psychopathy.
He observed that psychopaths could appear normal and engaging, unlike those with major mental disorders, coining the term "mask of sanity" to describe this phenomenon.
Cleckley's observations suggested that psychopaths' apparent normalcy concealed an underlying psychosis.
His work laid the foundation for subsequent research on psychopathy and continues to influence the field today.
