1856-1939

Austrian Neurologist and Psychiatrist

Between 1895 and 1939 Sigmund Freud created psychoanalysis, a therapy for the mentally ill, a tool for cultural criticism, and a field of psychiatric and philosophical research. His theories of human behavior and motivation amounted to no less than a revolution in psychiatry and social mores. Few thinkers affected the arts and sciences of the twentieth century as profoundly as did Freud. His thought has influenced the development of the fine arts (art, literature), the social sciences (history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, education), and the health sciences (psychiatry, social work, psychology). Freud's ideas constitute a core element in the social and political transformations of the century.

Sigmund Freud was born in Freiberg, Moravia (then in Austria, now in the Czech Republic) in 1856, the son of a poor, Jewish merchant. The family relocated to the capital of the Austrian Empire, Vienna, at an early age...