Life story. Sigmund Freud: biography and work experience

Sigmund Freud is an Austrian psychoanalyst, psychiatrist and neurologist. Founder of psychoanalysis. He proposed innovative ideas that resonate in scientific circles even today.

Sigmund Freud was born in Freiberg (now Příbor, Czech Republic) on May 6, 1856, becoming the third child in the family. Sigmund's mother is the second wife of Jacob Freud, who already had two sons from his first marriage. The textile trade brought the family a profit that was quite enough to live on. But the revolution that broke out trampled even such a small undertaking against the background of other ideas, and the family had to leave their home. First, the Freud family moved to Leipzig, and a year later to Vienna.

A poor area, dirt, noise and unpleasant neighbors are the reasons that did not create a positive atmosphere in the house of the future scientist. Sigmund himself did not like to remember his early childhood, considering those years unworthy of his own attention.

Parents loved their son very much, placing great hopes on him. Passion for literature and philosophical works was only encouraged. And Sigmund Freud read not childishly serious literature. In the boy's personal library, the works of Hegel occupied an honorable place. In addition, the psychoanalyst was fond of studying foreign languages, and even difficult Latin was given to the young genius surprisingly easily.

Studying at home allowed the boy to enter the gymnasium earlier than expected. During his school years, Sigmund was provided with conditions for the unimpeded completion of assignments in various subjects. Such love of parents was fully justified, and Freud graduated from the gymnasium successfully.

After school, Sigmund spent many days alone, thinking about his future. Strict and unjust laws gave the Jewish boy not so much choice: medicine, law, commerce and industry. All options, except for the first, Sigmund immediately rejected, considering them unsuitable for such an educated person. But Freud was not particularly interested in medicine either. In the end, the future founder of psychoanalysis chose this science, and psychology will become the basis for the study of various theories.

The impetus for the final decision was a lecture at which a work entitled "Nature" was read. The future philosopher studied medicine without his usual zeal and interest. During his student years in Brücke's laboratory, Freud published interesting and informative papers on the nervous system of certain animals.

After graduation, Sigmund planned to pursue an academic career, but the environment required the ability to earn a living. Therefore, after working for several years under the supervision of some of the famous therapists of the time, in 1885 Sigmund Freud applied to open his own neuropathology office. Thanks to the recommendations, the scientist received permission.

It is known that Sigmund also tried cocaine. The action of the drug struck the philosopher, and he wrote a large number of works in which he revealed the properties of the destructive powder. One of Freud's closest friends died as a result of cocaine treatment, but the enthusiastic researcher of the mysteries of human consciousness did not pay due attention to this fact. After all, Sigmund Freud himself suffered from cocaine addiction. After many years and a lot of efforts, the professor nevertheless recovered from his addiction. All this time, Freud did not leave philosophy, attending various lectures and keeping his own notes.

Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis

In 1885, thanks to the support of friends, influential luminaries of medicine, Sigmund Freud got an internship with the French psychiatrist Jean Charcot. The practice opened the eyes of the future psychoanalyst to the difference between illnesses. From Charcot, Freud learned to use hypnosis in treatment, with the help of which it was possible to heal patients or alleviate suffering.

Sigmund Freud began to use conversations with patients in the treatment, allowing people to speak out, to change their minds. This technique has become known as the Free Association Method. These conversations of random thoughts and phrases helped the astute psychiatrist understand the problems of patients and find solutions. The method helped to abandon the use of hypnosis and pushed to communicate with patients in full and pure consciousness.

Freud introduced the world to the view that any psychosis is a consequence of a person's memories, which are difficult to get rid of. At the same time, the scientist deduced the theory that most psychoses are based on the Oedipus complex and infantile childhood sexuality. Sexuality, according to Freud, is the factor that determines a large number of human psychological problems. "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality" supplemented the opinion of the scientist. Such a statement based on structured works caused scandals and disagreements among Freud's psychiatric colleagues who opposed the theory. Representatives of the scientific community said that Sigmund was delusional, and he himself, as experts assumed, became a victim of psychosis.

The publication of the book "The Interpretation of Dreams" at first did not bring due recognition to the author, but later psychoanalysts and psychiatrists recognized the importance of dreams in the treatment of patients. According to the scientist, dreams are a significant factor influencing the physiological state of the human body. After the release of the book, Professor Freud was invited to lecture at universities in Germany and the USA, which the representative of medicine himself considered a great achievement.

The Psychopathology of Everyday Life is another work by Freud. This book is considered the second work after The Interpretation of Dreams, which influenced the creation of a topological model of the psyche developed by the scientist.

The book "Introduction to Psychoanalysis" took a special place among the works of the scientist. This work contains the core of the concept, ways of interpreting the theoretical principles and methods of psychoanalysis, as well as the philosophy of the author's thinking. In the future, the basics of philosophy will become the basis for creating a set of mental processes and phenomena that have received a new definition - "Unconscious".

Freud also tried to explain social phenomena. In the book Psychology of the Masses and the Analysis of the Human Self, the psychoanalyst talked about the factors that affect the crowd, the behavior of the leader, the "prestige" received as a result of being in power. All of these books by the author are still bestsellers.

In 1910 there was a split in the ranks of Freud's students and followers. Disagreement of students with the fact that psychosis and hysteria are associated with the suppression of human sexual energy (such a theory was adhered to by Freud) is the reason for the contradictions that led to the split. Disagreements and strife tired the great psychiatrist. The psychoanalyst decided to gather around him only those who adhered to the foundations of his theory. So, in 1913, a secretive and almost secret community "Committee" appeared.

Personal life

For decades, Sigmund Freud ignored the female gender. Frankly, the scientist was afraid of women. This fact caused a lot of jokes and gossip, which confused the psychiatrist. Freud convinced himself that he could do without women interfering in his personal space all his life. But the circumstances were such that the great scientist succumbed to the influence of the charm of the fair sex.

One day, on the way to the printing house, Freud almost fell under the wheels of a carriage. The passenger, who regretted the incident, sent the scientist an invitation to the ball as a sign of reconciliation. Already at the event, Sigmund Freud met his future wife Martha Beirnays, as well as her sister Minna. Some time later, a magnificent engagement took place, and after the wedding. Married life was often overshadowed by scandals, the jealous Martha insisted that her husband break off communication with Minna. Not wanting to quarrel with his wife, Freud did just that.

For 8 years of family life, Marta gave her husband six children. After the birth of his youngest daughter Anna, Sigmund Freud decided to completely renounce his sexual life. Judging by the fact that Anna was the last child, the great psychoanalyst kept his word. It was the youngest daughter who looked after Freud at the end of the scientist's life. In addition, Anna is the only one of the children who continued the work of the famous father. A children's psychotherapy center in London is named after Anna Freud.

The biography of Sigmund Freud is full of interesting stories.

• It is known that the psychoanalyst was afraid of the numbers 6 and 2. The scientist never tried his best in hotels with more than 61 rooms. Thus, Freud avoided falling into the "hellish room" at number "62". In addition, under any pretext, on February 6, the Austrian did not go out, he was afraid of negative events, which, as the scientist assumed, were expected on that day.

• Freud listened only to himself, considering his own opinion the only true and correct one. The scientist demanded from people that they listened to the speeches with the utmost attention. Surely not one theory of the scientist is connected with these moments, but the psychoanalyst tried to prove his superiority by similar requirements to others, satisfying his pride.
• The phenomenal memory of a psychiatrist is another mysterious moment in the biography of an Austrian doctor. From childhood, the scientist memorized the content of books, notes and pictures that he liked. Such abilities helped Freud in learning languages. The famous Austrian, in addition to German, knew a large number of other languages.

• Sigmund Freud never looked people in the eye. This feature was clearly noticed by those around him who met the physician during his lifetime. The scientist avoided stares, so members of the scientific community speculate that the famous couch that appeared in the psychoanalyst's room is related to this moment.

Death

Intensive study of medical and philosophical works, a busy daily routine and the work of a thinker left a heavy imprint on the health of Sigmund Freud. An Austrian psychoanalyst fell ill with cancer.

Having undergone a large number of operations and not having received the desired result, Freud asked the attending physician to provide a service and help him die, getting rid of the torment. In September 1939, a dose of morphine ended the life of a scientist, betraying the body to ashes.

A large number of museums have been created in honor of Freud. The main such institution is organized in London, in the building where the scientist lived after forced emigration from Vienna. Also, the museum and the memory hall of Sigmund Freud is located in the city of Příbor (Czech Republic), in the homeland of the scientist. The photo of the founder of psychoanalysis is often found at international events dedicated to psychology.

Quotes

• "Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanity."
• "The task of making man happy was not part of the plan for the creation of the world."
• "The voice of the intellect is quiet, but he does not get tired of repeating - and the listeners are."
• “You do not stop looking for strength and confidence outside, but you should look for yourself. They have always been there."
• “In a whole series of cases, falling in love is nothing but a mental capture by an object, dictated by sexual primal impulses for the purpose of direct sexual satisfaction and with the achievement of this goal and fading away; this is what is called base, sensual love. But, as you know, the libidinal situation rarely remains so simple. Confidence in a new awakening of a need that had just died out was probably the immediate motive why the capture of a sexual object turned out to be prolonged and it was “loved” even during those periods of time when there was no desire.
• “Just today, my dead daughter would have turned thirty-six years old ... We find a place for the one we have lost. Although we know that acute grief will be erased after such a loss, we remain inconsolable and will never be able to find a replacement. Everything that stands in an empty place, even if it manages to fill it, remains something else. That's the way it should be. This is the only way to prolong the love we don't want to give up." — from a letter to Ludwig Binswanger, April 12, 1929.

Bibliography

• Dream interpretation
• Three essays on the theory of sexuality
• Totem and taboo
• Mass psychology and analysis of the human "I"
• The future of one illusion
• Beyond the Pleasure Principle
• me and it
• Introduction to psychoanalysis

Some purely scientific terms from his theory of personality development and the sexual origin of neurological complexes and diseases have become firmly established in people's daily lives.

Sigmund Freud was the firstborn and favorite of his mother, who after him had seven more children. Sigmund's father had 4 children from his first marriage. Freud studied at the University of Vienna and was always an able student. But the study took 8 years, as he moved several times from one faculty to another, being unable to finally decide what profession he should choose. Eventually, Sigmund chose medicine after he came to the conclusion that his initial decision to become a politician was futile: Freud realized that his opportunities in this profession would be very limited, since he was a Jew.

Freud began to conduct scientific research, studying the human nervous system. This led him to study diseases of the nervous system and possible treatments for them. He experimented with hypnosis, enthusiastically studied cocaine as a therapeutic agent, and in 1896 entered private practice as a specialist in diseases of the nervous system. That same year, at the age of 30, he married Martha Bernays.

In the late 90s, Freud suffered a severe nervous breakdown caused by the agony and death of his father and a loss of interest in sex after the birth of his last child. In the process of analyzing the difficult dreams and even nightmares that were haunting him at that time, he began to use psychoanalysis, that "talking cure" which was first developed and applied by his teacher Joseph Breuer. For the next 40 years, Freud's life proceeded in an atmosphere of domestic stability and great scientific achievements. He managed to gather around him many talented scientists, such as, for example, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Sandor Ferenczi and Ernst Jones. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they burned Freud's scientific works, declaring them "Jewish pornography." Only in 1938 did Freud manage to break out to London. The Greek princess Marie Bonaparte, a close acquaintance and former patient of Freud, paid a £20,000 ransom for him. Freud spent the last year of his life in London. He died there in 1939 of jaw cancer.

Freud made it his profession to study the sexual secrets and mysteries surrounding his people, but did everything possible to hide his own intimate life from everyone. He simply destroyed many of his private letters, and the few that have survived to this day are stored in the US Library of Congress and will be open to researchers only in 2000.

At the age of 16, Sigmund fell in love for the first time in his life. His beloved Gisela Fluse rejected his love. He took revenge on her by falling in love with her mother. Until the age of 26, Freud then showed no interest in women. In 1882 he met Martha Bernays, a thin, pretty girl from a Jewish family. She turned 21 years old. For 4 years they were engaged, exchanging hundreds of letters, but meeting quite rarely, although Freud lived near her. Freud was a very passionate and jealous correspondent.

They eventually managed to save enough money and married in 1886. After several moves, they settled in a house in Vienna, where they lived until 1938. During the first nine marriage years of her life, Martha had six children. In 1895 Martha's sister Minna came and lived with them for two years. Freud was faithful to Martha, but began to move away from her. He threw himself into work, and Martha had enough household chores and worries. She had the whole house on her, and she always tried to create all the conditions for her husband to work and rest. Freud later admitted that Martha never felt at ease with him.

Shortly after his father's death, Freud met and became friends with Wilhelm Fliess, a major Berlin specialist in diseases of the ear, nose and throat. They became very attached to each other, often exchanging letters and meeting for "congresses", as they themselves called these meetings. Freud wrote: "I look forward with great impatience to our next meeting ... My life is dreary ... Only meeting with you can make me feel better again." Fliss was very careful and caring about his friend. He tried to break Freud's habit of smoking 20 cigars a day. Freud himself, by the way, argued that smoking, drug use and gambling are just a futile attempt to replace the "primal habit" - masturbation. During one of their "congresses" Freud collapsed. He later commented on the incident: "The basis of all this is some kind of uncontrollable homosexual feeling." The friendship with Fliess ended in 1903, mainly because of Freud's reaction to Wilhelm's theory of universal bisexuality. At first, Freud rejected this theory, and then began to claim that it was first put forward by himself, and decided to write a large scientific work on this topic. Freud believed that every person is bisexual, and even stated: "In any sexual act, four independent personalities are involved."

It was rumored that Freud and his wife's sister Minna were lovers. Minna was prettier and much smarter than her sister Martha. Freud was very fond of talking to her and telling her about his theory of psychoanalysis. He once wrote that Minna was very similar to himself: they were both "uncontrollable, passionate and not very good people." Marta, unlike them, was, in his words, "a very good person." Freud loved to travel. Minna often accompanied him, while Martha stayed at home with the children. The main source of the rumor that Freud and Minna were lovers was Carl Jung, Freud's student. It was he who allegedly told one of his friends that Minna and Marta had separately initiated him into this secret. In particular, Jung told an American professor that one day in 1907, when he was visiting Freud's house in Vienna, Minna told him that Freud loved her very much and that there was a very close relationship between them. Jung was very upset and turned to Freud himself for clarification. He also suggested that Freud approach him as a psychoanalyst and become his patient. Freud coldly refused this offer.

Freud had an insatiable sexual appetite, but sex itself was also an intellectual pastime for him. He was barely in his 40s when he once wrote to Fliess: "Sexual arousal no longer exists for me." He lived in accordance with the requirements of a strict moral code, which he wrote for himself. Despite the fact that all of his theories asserted that sexual impulses underlie almost all human actions and actions, Freud tried not to allow these impulses to have any influence on his own behavior. He was, after all, a respectable married man and always maintained that a family could not be strong until the wife became a mother. Six children, who were born almost one after another, partially extinguished his desires, forcing him to think more about contraceptives. In 1908, he wrote: "Family life ceases to give the pleasure that it promised to give at first. All contraceptives now existing reduce sensual pleasure, strike partners at the most vulnerable places and can even make them sick." In 1909, Freud arrived in the US with Jung and several other colleagues to give public lectures there. One morning, Freud confessed to Jung that he had erotic dreams about American women. "I've been sleeping very badly ever since I came to America," Freud confessed. "I dream about prostitutes all the time." "Well, why don't you do something to solve this problem?" Jung asked. Freud recoiled from him in horror: "But I'm married!" he exclaimed.

Freud's theories claim that it is the sexual forces that shape the behavior of the individual. Culture, on the other hand, muffles and suppresses instinctive sexual energy and directs it to the formation of stereotypes of social behavior in this particular individual. The life of Freud himself is partly proof of one of his statements. He considered this thought tragic, but true. Here it is: "The sex life of a civilized man is seriously crippled."

Sigmund Freud(full name - Sigismund Shlomo Freud) is an Austrian psychologist, neurologist and psychiatrist. He is credited with founding psychoanalysis - a theory about the characteristics of human behavior and the causes of this behavior.

In 1930 Sigmund Freud was awarded Goethe Prize, it was then that his theories were recognized by society, although they remained "revolutionary" for that period of time.

short biography

Sigmund Freud was born May 6, 1856 in the Austrian town of Freiberg (modern Czech Republic), whose population numbered about 4,500 people.

His father - Jacob Freud, was married a second time, from his first marriage he had two sons. He was a textile merchant. Sigmund's mother Natalie Nathanson She was half her father's age.

In 1859 due to the forced closure of the business of the head of the family, the Freud family moved first to Leipzig and then to Vienna. Zygmund Shlomo was 4 years old at that time.

Study period

At first, Sigmund was raised by his mother, but soon his father took up this, who wanted a better future for him and in every possible way instilled in his son a love of literature. He succeeded and Freud Jr. kept this love until the end of his life.

Studying at the gymnasium

Diligence and ability to learn allowed Sigmund to enter the gymnasium at the age of 9 - a year earlier than usual. At that time he already had 7 siblings. Parents singled out Sigmund for his talent and desire to learn everything new. Up to the point that the rest of the children were forbidden to play music when he was studying in a separate room.

At the age of 17, the young talent graduated from the gymnasium with honors. By that time, he was fond of literature and philosophy, and also knew several languages: German perfectly, English, French, Italian, Spanish, studied Latin and Greek.

Needless to say, for the entire period of study, he was the student number 1 in his class.

Choice of profession

Further education for Sigmund Freud was limited due to his Jewish background. The choice was left to him commerce, industry, medicine or law. After some thought he chose medicine and entered the University of Vienna in 1873.

At the university, he began to study chemistry and anatomy. However, most of all he liked psychology and physiology. Partly due to the fact that at the university lectures on these subjects were given by the famous Ernst von Brucke.

Sigmund was also impressed by the popular zoologist Karl Claus with whom he subsequently carried out research work. During his time under Klaus "Freud quickly distinguished himself from other students, which enabled him twice, in 1875 and 1876, to become a fellow of the Institute of Zoological Research of Trieste."

After university

Being a rationally thinking person and setting himself the goal of achieving a position in society and material independence, Sigmund in 1881 opened a doctor's office and took up the treatment of psychoneuroses. Shortly thereafter, he began to use cocaine for medicinal purposes, first trying its effects on himself.

Colleagues looked askance at him, some called him an adventurer. Subsequently, it became clear to him that neuroses could not be cured from cocaine, but getting used to it was quite simple. It took a lot of work for Freud to give up the white powder and win for himself the authority of a pure doctor and scientist.

First successes

In 1899 Sigmund Freud published a book "The Interpretation of Dreams", which caused a negative reaction in society. She was ridiculed in the press, some of her colleagues did not want to have anything to do with Freud. But the book aroused great interest abroad: in France, England, America. Gradually, the attitude towards Dr. Freud changed, his stories won more and more supporters among doctors.

Getting acquainted with an increasing number of patients, mostly women, who complained of various ailments and disorders, using hypnosis methods, Freud built his theory about unconscious mental activity and determined that neurosis is a defensive reaction of the psyche to a traumatic idea.

Later, he put forward a hypothesis about the special role of unsatisfied sexuality in the development of neurosis. Observing the behavior of a person, his actions - especially bad ones, Freud came to the conclusion that unconscious motives lie at the heart of people's actions.

Theory of the Unconscious

Trying to find these very unconscious motives - the possible causes of neuroses, he drew attention to the unsatisfied desires of a person in the past, which lead to personality conflicts in the present. These alien emotions seem to cloud the mind. They were interpreted by him as the main evidence the existence of the unconscious.

In 1902, Sigmund was given the position of professor of neuropathology at the University of Vienna, and a year later he became the organizer "First International Psychoanalytic Congress". But international recognition of his merits came to him only in 1930, when the city of Frankfurt am Main awarded him Goethe Prize.

last years of life

Unfortunately, the subsequent life of Sigmund Freud was filled with tragic events. In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany, Jews began to be persecuted, Freud's books were burned in Berlin. Further worse - he himself ended up in the Vienna ghetto, and his sisters in a concentration camp. Nevertheless, they managed to rescue him, in 1938 he and his family left for London. But he had only a year to live: he suffered from oral cancer caused by smoking.

September 23, 1939 Sigmund Freud was injected with several cubes of morphine, a dose sufficient to end the life of a man weakened by disease. He died at 3 o'clock in the morning at the age of 83, his body was cremated, and the ashes were placed in a special Etruscan vase, which is stored in the mausoleum Golders Green.

Freud was born in Freiberg (Moravia) on May 6, 1856. In his youth he was interested in philosophy and other humanities, but he constantly felt the need to study the natural sciences. He entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna, where he received his doctorate in medicine in 1881, and became a physician at the Vienna Hospital. In 1884 he joined Josef Breuer, one of the leading Viennese doctors, who conducted research on patients with hysteria using hypnosis. In 1885-1886 he worked with the French neuropathologist Jean Martin Charcot in the Salpêtrière clinic in Paris. On his return to Vienna, he went into private practice. In 1902, Freud's work had already received recognition, and he was appointed professor of neuropathology at the University of Vienna; he held this post until 1938. In 1938, after the capture of Austria by the Nazis, he was forced to leave Vienna. The escape from Vienna and the opportunity to temporarily settle in London were organized by the English psychiatrist Ernst Jones, the Greek princess Marie Bonaparte, and the United States ambassador to France, William Bullitt.

Psychoanalysis

In 1882, Freud began treating Bertha Pappenheim (identified in his books as Anna O.), who had previously been a patient of Breuer's. Her varied hysterical symptoms provided Freud with a wealth of material for analysis. The first important phenomenon was deeply hidden memories that broke through during hypnosis sessions. Breuer suggested that they are associated with states in which consciousness is reduced. Freud believed that such a disappearance from the field of action of ordinary associative connections (the field of consciousness) is the result of a process that he called repression; memories are locked in what he called the "unconscious" where they were "sent" by the conscious part of the psyche. An important function of repression is to protect the individual from the influence of negative memories. Freud also suggested that the process of becoming aware of old and forgotten memories brings relief, albeit temporary, expressed in the removal of hysterical symptoms.

At first, Freud, like Breuer, used hypnosis to release repressed memories, and later replaced it with the technique of the so-called. free association, in which the patient was allowed to say whatever came to mind. Having proposed the concept of the unconscious, the theory of defense and the concept of repression, Freud began the development of a new method, which he called psychoanalysis.

In the course of this work, Freud expanded the range of data needed to include dreams, i.e. mental activity occurring in a state of reduced consciousness called sleep. Studying his own dreams, he observed what he had already deduced from the phenomenon of hysteria - many mental processes never reach consciousness and are removed from associative links with the rest of experience. Comparing the explicit content of dreams with free associations, Freud discovered their hidden or unconscious content and described a number of adaptive mental techniques that correlate the explicit content of dreams with their hidden meaning. Some of them resemble condensation, when several events or characters merge into one image. Another technique, in which the motives of the dreamer are transferred to someone else, causes a distortion of perception - so, "I hate you" becomes "you hate me." Of great importance is the fact that mechanisms of this kind represent intrapsychic maneuvers that effectively change the entire organization of perception, on which both motivation and activity itself depend.

Freud then moved on to the problem of neuroses. He came to the conclusion that the main area of ​​repression is the sexual sphere and that repression occurs as a result of real or imagined sexual trauma. Freud attached great importance to the factor of predisposition, which manifests itself in connection with a traumatic experience gained during the period of development and changed its normal course.

The search for the causes of neurosis led to Freud's most controversial theory - the theory of libido. The theory of libido explains the development and synthesis of the sexual instinct in its preparation for reproductive function, and also interprets the corresponding energy changes. Freud distinguished a number of stages of development - oral, anal and genital. A variety of developmental complexities can prevent a person from reaching maturity, or the genital phase, by trapping him in the oral or anal stage. Such an assumption was based on the study of normal development, sexual deviations and neuroses.

In 1921, Freud modified his theory, taking as a basis the idea of ​​​​two opposite instincts - the desire for life (eros) and the desire for death (thanatos). This theory, in addition to its low clinical value, has caused an incredible number of interpretations.

The theory of libido was then applied to the study of character formation (1908) and, together with the theory of narcissism, to the explanation of schizophrenia (1912). In 1921, mainly to refute Adler's concepts, Freud described a number of applications of libido theory to the study of cultural phenomena. He then tried to use the concept of libido as the energy of the sexual instinct to explain the dynamics of social institutions such as the army and the church, which, being non-hereditary hierarchical systems, differ in a number of important respects from other social institutions.

In 1923, Freud attempted to develop the concept of libido by describing the structure of the personality in terms of "It" or "Id" (the original reservoir of energy or the unconscious), "I" or "Ego" (that side of the "It" that comes into contact with the outside world) and "Super-I", or "Super-Ego" (conscience). Three years later, largely under the influence of Otto Rank, who was one of his early followers, Freud revised the theory of neuroses so that it was again closer to his earlier conceptions; he now characterized the ego as the leading apparatus of adaptation and reworked the very understanding of the general structure of neurotic phenomena.

By 1908, Freud had followers all over the world, which allowed him to organize the 1st International Congress of Psychoanalysts. The New York Psychoanalytic Society was founded in 1911. The rapid spread of the movement gave it not so much a scientific as a completely religious character. Freud's influence on modern culture is truly enormous. Despite the fact that it has declined in Europe, psychoanalysis remains the main psychiatric method used in the US and (to a lesser extent) in the UK.

In the United States, psychoanalysis has had a significant impact on literature and theater, especially on the works of such famous authors as Eugene O "Neill and Tennessee Williams. Psychoanalysis inadvertently promoted the idea that all repression and suppression should be avoided so that it does not lead to an "explosion steam boiler”, and that education should in no case resort to prohibitions and coercion.

Although Freud's observations and theories have always been the subject of discussion and often disputed, there is no doubt that he made an enormous and original contribution to understanding the nature of the human psyche.

Freud's most famous works

Research hysteria (Studien über Hysterie, 1895), together with Breuer;
Dream interpretation(Die Traumdeutung, 1900);
Psychopathology of everyday life (Zur Psychopathologie des Alltagslebens, 1901);
Lectures on Introduction to Psychoanalysis (Vorlesungen zur Einführung in die Psychoanalysis, 1916–1917);
Totem and taboo (Totem und Tabu, 1913);
Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci, 1910);
me and it (Das Ich und das Es, 1923);
Civilization and those who are dissatisfied with it (Das Unbehagen in der Kultur, 1930);
New lectures on introduction to psychoanalysis (Neue Folge der Vorlesungen zur Einführung in die Psychoanalysis, 1933);
A Man Called Moses and the Monotheistic Religion (Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion, 1939).

On December 18, 1815, in Tysmenitsa in Eastern Galicia (now Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine), the father of Sigmund Freud, Kalman Jacob, was born Freud(1815-1896). From his first marriage to Sally Kanner, he left two sons - Emmanuel (1832-1914) and Philip (1836-1911).

1840 - Jacob Freud moved to Freiberg.

1835, August 18 - in the city of Brody in North-Eastern Galicia (now Lviv region, Ukraine), the mother of Sigmund Freud, Amalia Malka Natanson (1835-1930), was born. She spent part of her childhood in Odessa, where her two brothers settled, then her parents moved to Vienna.

1855, July 29 - Freud's parents, Jakob Freud and Amalia Natanson, were married in Vienna. This is the third marriage of Jacob, there is almost no information about his second marriage to Rebecca.

1855 - John (Johan) was born Freud- the son of Emmanuel and Maria Freud, the nephew of Z. Freud, with whom he was inseparable for the first 3 years of his life.

1856 - Paulina Freud was born - daughter of Emmanuel and Maria Freud, niece of Z. Freud.

Sigismund ( Sigmund) Shlomo Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in the Moravian town of Freiberg in Austria-Hungary (now it is the city of Przybor, and it is located in the Czech Republic) in a traditional Jewish family of 40-year-old father Jakub Freud and his 20-year-old wife Amalia Natanson. He was the firstborn of a young mother.

1958 - the first of Freud's sisters, Anna, was born. 1859 - Bertha is born Freud- second daughter of Emmanuel and Mary Freud, niece of Z. Freud.

In 1859 the family moved to Leipzig and then to Vienna. In the gymnasium, he showed linguistic abilities and graduated with honors (the first student).

1860 - Rose (Regina Deborah), Freud's second and most beloved sister, is born.

1861 - Martha Bernays, the future wife of Z. Freud, was born in Wandsbek near Hamburg. In the same year, the third sister of Z. Freud, Maria (Mitzi), was born.

1862 - Dolfi (Esther Adolfina), the fourth sister of Z. Freud, was born.

1864 - Paula (Paulina Regina), the fifth sister of Z. Freud, was born.

1865 - Sigmund begins his undergraduate studies (a year earlier than usual, Z. Freud enters the Leopoldstadt communal gymnasium, where he was the first student in the class for 7 years).

1866 - Alexander (Gothold Ephraim), brother of Sigmund, was born, the last child in the family of Jacob and Amalia Freud.

1872 - during the summer holidays in his hometown of Freiberg, Freud experiences his first love, the chosen one is Gisela Fluss.

1873 - Z. Freud enters the University of Vienna at the Faculty of Medicine.

1876 ​​- Z. Freud meets Joseph Breuer and Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, who later became his best friends.

1878 - changed the name Sigismund to Sigmund.

1881 - Freud graduated from the University of Vienna and received the degree of doctor of medicine. The need to earn money did not allow him to stay at the department and he first entered the Physiological Institute, and then to the Vienna Hospital, where he worked as a doctor in the surgical department, moving from one department to another.

In 1885 he received the title of Privatdozent, and he was given a scholarship for a scientific internship abroad, after which he went to Paris to the Salpêtrière clinic to the famous psychiatrist J.M. Charcot, who used hypnosis to treat mental illness. The practice at Charcot's clinic made a great impression on Freud. before his eyes there was a healing of patients with hysteria, who suffered mainly from paralysis.

On his return from Paris, Freud opens a private practice in Vienna. He immediately decides to try hypnosis on his patients. The first success was inspiring. In the first few weeks, he achieved instant healing of several patients. A rumor spread throughout Vienna that Dr. Freud was a miracle worker. But soon there were setbacks. He became disillusioned with hypnotic therapy, as he had been with drug and physical therapy.

In 1886, Freud marries Martha Bernays. Subsequently, they have six children - Matilda (1887-1978), Jean Martin (1889-1967, named after Charcot), Oliver (1891-1969), Ernst (1892-1970), Sofia (1893-1920) and Anna ( 1895-1982). It was Anna who became a follower of her father, founded child psychoanalysis, systematized and developed psychoanalytic theory, made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of psychoanalysis in her writings.

In 1891, Freud moved to the house at Vienna IX, Berggasse 19, where he lived with his family and received patients until forced emigration in June 1937. The same year marks the beginning of the development by Freud, together with J. Breuer, of a special method of hypnotherapy, the so-called cathartic (from the Greek katharsis - cleansing). Together they continue the study of hysteria and its treatment by means of the cathartic method.

In 1895, they published the book "Studies in Hysteria", which for the first time speaks of the relationship between the emergence of neurosis and unsatisfied drives and emotions repressed from consciousness. Freud also occupies another state of the human psyche, similar to hypnotic - a dream. In the same year, he discovers the basic formula for the secret of dreams: each of them is the fulfillment of a wish. This thought struck him so much that he even jokingly offered to nail a commemorative plaque in the place where it happened. Five years later he expounded these ideas in his book The Interpretation of Dreams, which he consistently regarded as his finest work. Developing his ideas, Freud concludes that the main force that directs all actions, thoughts and desires of a person is the energy of libido, that is, the power of sexual desire. The human unconscious is filled with this energy, and therefore it is in constant confrontation with consciousness - the embodiment of moral norms and moral principles. Thus he comes to describe the hierarchical structure of the psyche, consisting of three "levels": consciousness, preconscious and unconscious.

In 1895, Freud finally abandoned hypnosis and began to practice the method of free association - the treatment of conversation, later called "psychoanalysis". He first used the concept of "psychoanalysis" in an article on the etiology of neuroses, published in French on March 30, 1896.

Between 1885 and 1899, Freud engaged in intensive practice, in-depth self-analysis and worked on his most significant book, The Interpretation of Dreams.
After the publication of the book, Freud develops and improves his theory. Despite the negative reaction of the intellectual elite, Freud's extraordinary ideas are gradually gaining acceptance among the young doctors of Vienna. The turn to real fame and big money took place on March 5, 1902, when Emperor François-Joseph I signed an official decree conferring the title of assistant professor to Sigmund Freud. In the same year, students and like-minded people gather around Freud, a psychoanalytic circle "on Wednesdays" is formed. Freud writes The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1904), Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious (1905). On Freud's 50th birthday, his students present him with a medal made by K. M. Schwerdner. The reverse side of the medal depicts Oedipus and the Sphinx.

In 1907, he established contact with the school of psychiatrists from Zurich, and the young Swiss doctor K.G. became his student. Jung. Freud pinned great hopes on this man - he considered him the best successor to his offspring, capable of leading the psychoanalytic community. 1907, according to Freud himself, is a turning point in the history of the psychoanalytic movement - he receives a letter from E. Bleuler, who was the first in scientific circles to express official recognition of Freud's theory. In March 1908, Freud became an honorary citizen of Vienna. By 1908, Freud had followers all over the world, the Wednesday Psychological Society, which met with Freud, was transformed into the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, and on April 26, 1908, the first International Psychoanalytic Congress was held at the Bristol Hotel in Salzburg, in which 42 psychologists, half of which were practicing analysts.

Freud continues to work actively, psychoanalysis is widely known throughout Europe, in the USA, in Russia. In 1909 he lectured in the USA, in 1910 the Second International Congress on Psychoanalysis was held in Nuremberg, and then the congresses became regular. In 1912, Freud founded the periodical "International Journal of Medical Psychoanalysis". In 1915-1917. he lectures on psychoanalysis in his homeland, the University of Vienna, and prepares them for publication. His new works are being published, where he continues his research into the mysteries of the unconscious. Now his ideas go beyond just medicine and psychology, but also concern the laws of development of culture and society. Many young doctors come to study psychoanalysis directly to its founder.

In January 1920, Freud was awarded the title of ordinary university professor. An indicator of true glory was the honoring in 1922 by the University of London of the five great geniuses of mankind - Philo, Memonides, Spinoza, Freud and Einstein. The Vienna house at 19 Berggasse was filled with celebrities, Freud's receptions were signed up from different countries, and it seemed to have been booked for many years to come. He is invited to lecture in the USA.

In 1923, fate puts Freud to severe trials: he develops jaw cancer, caused by addiction to cigars. Operations on this occasion were constantly carried out and tormented him until the end of his life. Out of print comes "I and It" - one of the most important works of Freud. . The disturbing socio-political situation gives rise to riots and unrest. Freud, remaining true to the natural-science tradition, increasingly turns to the topics of the psychology of the masses, the psychological structure of religious and ideological dogmas. Continuing to explore the abyss of the unconscious, he now comes to the conclusion that two equally strong principles control a person: this is the desire for life (Eros) and the desire for death (Thanatos). The instinct of destruction, the forces of aggression and violence, manifest themselves too clearly around us not to notice them. In 1926, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, Sigmund Freud receives congratulations from all over the world. Among the congratulators are Georg Brandes, Albert Einstein, Romain Rolland, mayor of Vienna, but academic Vienna ignored the anniversary.

On September 12, 1930, Freud's mother died at the age of 95. Freud in a letter to Ferenczi wrote: "I did not have the right to die while she was alive, now I have this right. One way or another, the values ​​of life have changed significantly in the depths of my consciousness." On October 25, 1931, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where Sigmund Freud was born. On this occasion, the streets of the city are decorated with flags. Freud writes a letter of thanks to the mayor of Příbor, in which he remarks:
"Deep in me still lives a happy child from Freiburg, the first-born of a young mother, who received his indelible impressions of the land and air of those places."

In 1932, Freud completed work on the manuscript "Continuation of lectures on introduction to psychoanalysis". In 1933, fascism came to power in Germany and Freud's books, along with many others that were not pleasing to the new authorities, were set on fire. To this, Freud remarks: "What progress we have made! In the Middle Ages they would have burned me; today they are content with burning my books." In the summer, Freud begins work on The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion.

In 1935, Freud became an honorary member of the Royal Society of Physicians in Great Britain. On September 13, 1936, the Freuds celebrated their golden wedding. On that day, four of their children came to visit them. The persecution of the Jews by the National Socialists is growing, the warehouse of the International Psychoanalytic Publishing House in Leipzig is being arrested. In August, the International Psychoanalytic Congress took place in Marienbad. The place of the congress was chosen in such a way as to enable Anna Freud to quickly return to Vienna to assist her father if necessary. in 1938, the last meeting of the leadership of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association took place, at which a decision was made to leave the country. Ernest Jones and Marie Bonaparte rush to Vienna to help Freud. Foreign demonstrations force the Nazi regime to allow Freud to emigrate. The International Psychoanalytic Publication has been sentenced to liquidation.

On August 23, 1938, the authorities close the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. On June 4, Freud leaves Vienna with his wife and daughter Anna and travels by Orient Express via Paris to London.
In London, Freud first lives at Elsworthy Road 39, and on September 27 he moves to his last home, Maresfield Gardens 20.
The family of Sigmund Freud has lived in this house since 1938. Until 1982, Anna Freud lived here. Now here is a museum and a research center at the same time.

The exposition of the museum is very rich. The Freud family was lucky - they managed to take out almost all the furnishings of their Austrian home. So now visitors have the opportunity to admire samples of Austrian wooden furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, chairs and tables in the Bedermeier style. But, of course, the "hit of the season" is the psychoanalyst's famous couch, on which his patients lay during the sessions. In addition, Freud spent his whole life collecting objects of ancient art - samples of ancient Greek, ancient Egyptian, ancient Roman art are lined with all horizontal surfaces in his office. Including the desk where Freud used to write in the morning.

In August 1938, the last pre-war International Psychoanalytic Congress took place in Paris. In late autumn, Freud again begins to conduct psychoanalytic sessions, taking four patients daily. Freud writes an Outline of Psychoanalysis, but never manages to complete it. In the summer of 1939, Freud's condition began to deteriorate more and more. On September 23, 1939, just before midnight, Freud dies after begging his doctor Max Schur (under a prearranged condition) for an injection of a lethal dose of morphine. On September 26, the cremation of Freud's body took place in Golder's Green crematorium. Ernest Jones holds the funeral speech. After him, Stefan Zweig delivers a mourning speech in German. The ashes from the body of Sigmund Freud are placed in a Greek vase, which he received as a gift from Marie Bonaparte.

Today, Freud's personality has become legendary, and his works are unanimously recognized as a new milestone in world culture. Interest in the discoveries of psychoanalysis is shown by philosophers and writers, artists and directors. During the life of Freud, Stefan Zweig's book "Medicine and the Psyche" was published. One of its chapters is devoted to the "father of psychoanalysis", his role in the final revolution of ideas about medicine and the nature of diseases. After the Second World War in the United States, psychoanalysis becomes a "second religion" and outstanding masters of American cinema pay tribute to it: Vincenta Minnelli, Elia Kazan, Nicholas Rey, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin. One of the greatest French philosophers, Jean Paul Sartre, wrote a script about the life of Freud, and a little later, Hollywood director John Huston made a film based on his motives... Today it is impossible to name any major writer or scientist, philosopher or director of the twentieth century who has not experienced would have been directly or indirectly influenced by psychoanalysis. So the promise of the young Viennese doctor, which he gave to his future wife Martha, came true - he really became a great person.

According to the materials of the International Psychoanalytic Conference "Sigmund Freud - the founder of a new scientific paradigm: psychoanaliz in theory and practice" (to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sigmund Freud).

Want to explore the depths of your unconscious? - psychotherapist psychoanalytic school is ready to accompany you on this exciting journey.