Ferdinand de Saussure (26 November 1857 – 22 Februarie 1913) was 'n Switserse taalkundige. Sy idees het die grondslag gelê vir baie beduidende ontwikkelings in linguistiek in die 20ste eeu. Hy is gebore in Genève in 1857. Saussure het tekens van aansienlike talent en intellektuele vermoë so vroeg as die ouderdom van veertien gewys. Robins, R. H. 1979. A Short History of Linguistics, 2nd Edition. Longman Linguistics Library. London and New York. p. 201: Robins writes Saussure's statement of "the structural approach to language underlies virtually the whole of modern linguistics". Harris, R. and T. J. Taylor. 1989. Landmarks in Linguistic Thought: The Western Tradition from Socrates to Saussure. 2nd Edition. Chapter 16.