Martin Heidegger (1889–1976)

Martin Heidegger, German philosopher, attempted to reorient Western philosophy away from metaphysical and epistemological and toward ontological questions, that is, questions concerning the meaning of being, or what it means "to be". Heidegger also challenged the idea of phenomenology as defined by his teacher Edmund Husserl and is regarded as a major influence on existentialism,  deconstruction, hermeneutics and postmodernism. His status as a prominent academic member of the National Socialist Party led to later criticism  of not only his political thought but his entire outlook.

From Wikipedia  

Also see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
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