Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950–2009) was a groundbreaking American literary critic and theorist widely regarded as a founding figure of queer theory. Her landmark works — "Epistemology of the Closet", "Touching Feeling", and "Between Men" — transformed the study of gender, sexuality, and literary culture, challenging assumptions embedded in Western discourse. A professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Sedgwick brought together close reading, psychoanalysis, and affect theory with remarkable originality and intellectual courage. Her writing remains essential to queer studies, feminist theory, and the humanities at large, continuing to inspire scholars across disciplines worldwide.