Sorley MacLean (Scottish Gaelic: Somhairle MacGill-Eain, sometimes "MacGilleathain" in earlier publications) (26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996) was one of the most significant Scottish poets of the 20th century.

He was born at Osgaig on the island of Raasay on 26 October 1911, where Scottish Gaelic was the first language. He attended the University of Edinburgh and was an avid shinty player playing for the university team. After earning a First class degree, he returned to the Highland and Island community to teach. He was instrumental in preserving the teaching of Gaelic in Scottish schools.

MacLean turned away from the Presbyterian faith of his community in his early teens. Like many European intellectuals of that day, he moved in sympathy to with the far left. Much of his work touched on specifically political themes and references, and his position was overtly Stalinist until the mid-1940s, although he was never a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He was also a skilled and delicate writer of love poetry.