Sigmund Freud what he did. Sigmund Freud - biography and basic concepts

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

In 1930, Sigmund Freud was awarded Goethe Prize, it was then that his theories gained recognition 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 for the second time, from his first marriage he had two sons. He was engaged in the textile trade. Sigmund's mother - Natalie Nathanson, was half the age of her father.

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. Zigmund Shlomo was 4 years old at that time.

Study period

At first, Sigmund was raised by his mother, but soon his father took over, 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. retained this love until the end of his life.

Studying at the gymnasium

Diligence and ability to learn allowed Sigmund to go to school at the age of 9 - a year earlier than usual. At that time he already had 7 siblings. Sigmund's parents singled him out for his talent and desire to learn new things. To the point that the other children were forbidden to study music when he studied in a separate room.

At the age of 17, the young talent graduated from high school with honors. By that time, he was interested in 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 his studies he was the number 1 student in his class.

Choice of profession

Sigmund Freud's further studies were limited due to his Jewish origin. His choice was 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, what he liked most was psychology and physiology. Partly due to the fact that at the university lectures on these subjects were given by a famous Ernst von Brücke.

Sigmund was also impressed by the popular zoologist Karl Klaus, with whom he later carried out scientific work. While working under the leadership of Klaus “Freud quickly distinguished himself among other students, which allowed him to become a fellow of the Trieste Institute of Zoological Research twice, in 1875 and 1876.”

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 began treating psychoneuroses. Soon after this, he began to use cocaine for medicinal purposes, first trying its effects on himself.

Colleagues looked at him askance, some called him an adventurer. Subsequently, it became clear to him that cocaine could not cure neuroses, but it was quite easy to get used to it. It took Freud a lot of work to abandon the white powder and gain the authority of a pure doctor and scientist.

First successes

In 1899, Sigmund Freud published the book "Interpretation of Dreams", which caused a negative reaction in society. She was ridiculed in the press, and some of her colleagues wanted nothing 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.

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

Theory of the unconscious

Trying to find these very unconscious motives - 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 consciousness. They were interpreted by him as the main evidence 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 services came to him only in 1930, when the city of Frankfurt am Main awarded him Goethe Prize.

last years of life

Unfortunately, Sigmund Freud's subsequent life was filled with tragic events. In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany, Jews began to be persecuted, and Freud's books were burned in Berlin. It got worse - he himself ended up in the Vienna ghetto, and his sisters in a concentration camp. They managed to rescue him, and 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 terminate the life of a person weakened by illness. He died at 3 a.m. at the age of 83, his body was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a special Etruscan vase, which is kept in the mausoleum Golders Green.

😉 Greetings to my regular and new readers! The article “Sigmund Freud: biography, facts” is about the main stages of the life of the famous Austrian psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and neurologist.

Biography of Sigmund Freud

The forefather of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, was born on May 6, 1856 from the second marriage of a Jewish textile merchant, Jacob Freud. The son did not follow in his father's footsteps. Under the influence of eminent teachers, he gave preference to medical sciences. In particular, psychology, neuroscience, the nature of human nature.

Sigmund spent his childhood in the Austrian city of Freiberg. When he was 3 years old, the Freud family went bankrupt and moved to Vienna. At first, the mother was involved in her son’s education, and then the father picked up the baton. The boy inherited his passion for reading from his father.

At the age of 9, Sigmund entered the gymnasium and graduated brilliantly at 17. The guy was fond of studying literature and philosophy. At the same time, he knew many foreign languages: German, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, English.

Sigmund with his mother Amalia (1872)

Having not yet decided on his choice of life's work, Sigmund entered the University of Vienna. All sorts of ridicule and attacks from the anti-Semitic student society about his origin strengthened and even hardened Sigmund’s character.

Freud's philosophy

During his life, the doctor of medicine wrote and published many scientific papers. The complete collection of his works consists of 24 volumes. The first scientific works were written by Sigmund during his student years under the guidance of teachers. At first these were works on zoology, then on neurology and anatomy.

The young doctor of medicine hoped to connect his life with scientific research. Due to lack of means of subsistence and on the advice of his supervisor, Brücke left the institute laboratory and took up practical medicine.

Sigmund decided to master practical skills with surgery, but quickly lost interest in it. But neuralgia turned out to be quite a fascinating matter, especially in the field of diagnosis and treatment of infantile paralysis.

After writing several works, Freud decided to focus on psychiatry. Working under Theodor Meiner, Sigmund wrote several articles on comparative histology and anatomy.

After reading the works of one of the German scientists about the properties of cocaine (increases endurance, reduces fatigue), he decides to try it on himself.

After the “successful” tests, the article “About Coke” was published. But this work and further research caused a wave of criticism. Subsequently, several more works were written on this topic.

• 1885 - Freud went to Paris to study the basics of hypnosis from the psychiatrist Charcot;
• 1886 - In Berlin, Sigmund studied childhood diseases. Dissatisfaction with the results of using hypnosis led to the technique of “pronunciation” and associations - the beginning of the creation of psychoanalysis. The book “A Study of Hysteria” became the first scientific work;
• 1890 - the book “The Interpretation of Dreams” was published. Freud wrote it based on his own dreams and considered it his main achievement in life;
• 1902 - the “Psychological Society on Wednesdays” club began its activities. Friends and former patients of the doctor took part in the club.

Over time, the club members divided into two camps. The breakaway part was led by Alfred Adler, who was critical of some of Freud's theories. Even his closest comrade, Carl Jung, left his friend due to irresolvable differences.

Sigmund Freud: personal life

Freud made the decision to leave scientific work and go to practice out of love. Martha Bernays was from a Jewish family. But he only married in 1886 after returning from Paris and Berlin. Martha bore him six children.

Sigmund and Marta

In 1923, Sigmund was diagnosed with cancer of the palate. He underwent 32 operations, which resulted in partial removal of his jaw. After this, Freud no longer gave lectures to students.

In 1933, the National Socialists, led by Adolf Hitler, came to power. He passed a number of laws against Jews. Banned books that contradicted Nazi ideology, including books by Freud.

In 1938, after the annexation of Austria to Germany, the scientist’s position became significantly more complicated. After the arrest of his daughter Anna, Freud decided to leave the country and go to England. But a progressive illness did not allow the professor of medicine to move to America, at the request of his friend, who held a high government position.

Severe pain forced him to ask Dr. Max Schur to administer a lethal dose of morphine. The father of psychoanalysis died on September 23, 1939. The ashes of the scientist and his wife are kept in the Ernest George Museum in Golders Green (London). His zodiac sign is , height is 1.72 m.

Sigmund Freud: biography (video)

Birth of psychoanalysis

The history of psychoanalysis dates back to the 1890s in Vienna, when Sigmund Freud worked to develop a more effective way to treat neurotic and hysterical illnesses. Somewhat earlier, Freud was confronted with the fact that some mental processes were not recognized by him as a result of his neurological consultations in the children's hospital, and he discovered that in many children with speech disorders there was no organic reason for the occurrence of these symptoms. Later in 1885, Freud underwent an internship at the Salpêtrière clinic under the guidance of the French neurologist and psychiatrist Jean Martin Charcot, who had a strong influence on him. Charcot drew attention to the fact that his patients often suffered from such somatic diseases as paralysis, blindness, tumors, without having any organic disorders characteristic of such cases. Before Charcot's work, it was believed that women with hysterical symptoms had a wandering uterus ( hystera means "uterus" in Greek), but Freud found that men could also experience similar psychosomatic symptoms. Freud also became familiar with the experiments in the treatment of hysteria carried out by his mentor and colleague Joseph Breuer. This treatment was a combination of hypnosis and catharsis, and later processes of discharging emotions similar to this method were called “abreaction”.

Despite the fact that most scientists considered dreams either a collection of mechanical memories of the past day or a meaningless collection of fantastic images, Freud developed the point of view of other researchers that a dream is an encrypted message. Analyzing the associations that arise in patients in connection with one or another detail of a dream, Freud made a conclusion about the etiology of the disorder. Realizing the origin of their disease, patients, as a rule, were cured.

As a young man, Freud became interested in hypnosis and its use in helping the mentally ill. Later he abandoned hypnosis, preferring free association method and dream analysis. These methods became the basis of psychoanalysis. Freud was also interested in what he called hysteria, now known as conversion syndrome.

Symbols, unlike ordinary elements of a manifest dream, have a universal (the same for different people) and stable meaning. Symbols are found not only in dreams, but also in fairy tales, myths, everyday speech, and poetic language. The number of objects depicted in dreams by symbols is limited.

Dream interpretation method

The method Freud used to interpret dreams is as follows. After he was told the content of the dream, Freud began to ask the same question about individual elements (images, words) of this dream - what comes to the narrator’s mind about this element when he thinks about it? The person was required to communicate all the thoughts that came into his head, regardless of the fact that some of them may seem ridiculous, irrelevant or obscene.

The rationale behind this method is that mental processes are strictly determined, and if a person, when asked to say what comes to his mind regarding a given element of a dream, a certain thought comes to mind, this thought cannot in any way be random; it will certainly be associated with this element. Thus, the psychoanalyst does not interpret someone's dream himself, but rather helps the dreamer in this. In addition, some special elements of dreams can still be interpreted by a psychoanalyst without the help of the dream owner. These are symbols - elements of dreams that have a constant, universal meaning that does not depend on in whose dream these symbols appear.

last years of life

Freud's books

• "The Interpretation of Dreams", 1900
• "Totem and Taboo", 1913
• "Lectures on Introduction to Psychoanalysis", 1916-1917
• "I and It", 1923
• "Moses and Monotheism", 1939

Literature

1. Brian D. “Freudian Psychology and the Post-Freudians.” - Refl-book. - 1997.
2. Zeigarnik. “Theories of personality in foreign psychology.” - Moscow University Publishing House. - 1982.
3. Lacan J. Seminars. Book 1. Freud's works on the technique of psychoanalysis (1953-1954) M: Gnosis/Logos, 1998.
4. Lacan J. Seminars. Book 2. “I” in Freud’s theory and in the technique of psychoanalysis (1954-1955) M: Gnosis/Logos, 1999.
5. Marson P. “25 Key Books on Psychoanalysis.” Ural Ltd. - 1999
6. Freud, Sigmund. Collected works in 26 volumes. St. Petersburg, publishing house "VEIP", 2005 - ed. continues.
7. Paul FERRIS. "Sigmund Freud"

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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) - Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist, creator of psychoanalysis.

Biography

For the actual biography, see →

The teachings of S. Freud

Freud said that human behavior is governed not by ideals, not by reason and not by the rules of decency, but by instincts: the instinct of sex and the fear of death. He argued that all our actions are based on secret desires, complexes and neuroses. You can find out about them by analyzing your dreams. According to Freud, it is not consciousness, but the unconscious that controls human behavior. Look →

Freud believed that there is a single list of innate drives that are common to all people and cannot be changed: these are life drives, sexual drives, and death drives. Look →

Freud proposed a three-component model of the psyche, consisting of the “Id,” “I,” and “Super-Ego.” Look →

Freud influenced the entire European culture: Proust, Joyce, Sartre, Dali, Picasso. S. Freud's influence on both academic and practical psychology is enormous. From the work of Z. Freud came:

• actually Freudianism, or classical psychoanalysis, which derives all the problems of an adult from the sexual instinct, see →
• psychoanalytic approach, which derives all the moments and problems of an adult from the events and experiences of his childhood, see →
• psychodynamic approach, which deduces what is happening in a person’s soul from the deep struggle (dynamics) of unconscious forces, see → Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung stand out among Freud’s students.

Publications

Sigmund Freud wrote poetry in his time; in psychology he began his research rather as a physiologist and neuropsychologist, but became famous for his research as the founder of psychoanalysis: “Studies on Hysteria” (1895), “Interpretation of Dreams” (1900), “Psychopathology of Everyday Life” (1901) ), “Wit and its relation to the unconscious” (1905), “Three essays on the theory of sexuality” (1905), “Totem and taboo” (1913), “Lectures on an introduction to psychoanalysis” (1916-1917), “On that side of the pleasure principle" (1920), "Mass Psychology and Analysis of the Self" (1921), "I and It" (1923), "The Future of an Illusion" (1927), "Civilization and Those Dissatisfied with It" (1930), "Moses and monotheism" (1939), "Essay on Psychology" (1940, unfinished), "Analysis of a five-year-old boy's phobia", "On dreams", "On psychoanalysis", "A child is beaten: on the question of the origin of sexual perversions".

Modern assessment of the legacy of S. Freud

Despite the fact that psychoanalysis has become a “sacred cow” in psychology, psychoanalysis has no direct relation to science; it is more poetry, mythology and a practical approach. There is no scientific data that either confirms his position on the leading role of sexual desires. Its effectiveness in comparison with the behavioral and humanistic approach is low. Look

The most famous Austrian psychoanalyst, psychiatrist and neurologist Sigmund Freud became a pioneer in the field of psychoanalysis. His ideas marked the beginning of a real revolution in psychology and cause heated discussions even to this day. Let's turn to a short biography of Sigmund Freud.

Story

Freud's story began in the city of Freiberg, which today is called Příbor and is located in the Czech Republic. The future scientist was born on May 6, 1856 and became the third child in the family. Freud's parents had a good income thanks to the textile trade. Sigmund's mother is the second wife of Jacob Freud's father, who already had two sons. However, a sudden revolution destroyed the rosy plans, and the Freud family had to say goodbye to their home. They settled in Leizpig, and after a year they went to Vienna. Freud was never attracted to conversations about family and childhood. The reason for this was the atmosphere in which the boy grew up - a poor, dirty area, constant noise and unpleasant neighbors. In short, Sigmund Freud was in an environment at the time that could have had a negative impact on his learning.

Childhood

Sigmund always avoided talking about his childhood, although his parents loved their son and had great hopes for his future. That is why hobbies in literature and philosophy were encouraged. Despite his youth, Freud gave preference to Shakespeare, Kant and Nietzsche. In addition to philosophy, foreign languages, especially Latin, were a serious hobby in the young man’s life. The personality of Sigmund Freud truly left a serious mark on history.

His parents did everything to ensure that nothing interfered with his studies, which allowed the boy to enter the gymnasium ahead of time without any problems and successfully complete it.

However, upon graduation, the situation was not as rosy as expected. Unfair legislation provided a meager choice of future professions. Freud did not consider any other options besides medicine, considering industry and commerce to be unworthy sectors for the activity of an educated person. However, medicine did not inspire Sigmund’s love either, so after school the young man spent a lot of time thinking about his future. Psychology eventually became Freud's choice. A lecture on Goethe’s work “Nature” helped him make a decision. Medicine remained on the sidelines; Freud became interested in studying the nervous system of animals and published worthy articles on this topic.

Graduation

After receiving his diploma, Freud dreamed of delving into science, but the need to earn a living took its toll. For some time I had to practice under the guidance of fairly successful therapists. Already in 1885, Freud decided to make an attempt and open a personal office for neuropathology. Good recommendations from the therapists under whom Freud worked helped him obtain the coveted work permit.

Cocaine addiction

A little-known fact known to psychoanalysts is cocaine addiction. The effect of the drug impressed the philosopher, and he published many articles in which he tried to reveal the properties of the substance. Despite the fact that a close friend of the philosopher died from the destructive effects of the powder, this did not bother him at all, and Freud continued to study the secrets of the human subconscious with enthusiasm. These studies led Sigmund himself to addiction. And only many years of persistent treatment helped to get rid of the addiction. Despite the difficulties, the philosopher never gave up his studies, wrote articles and attended various seminars.

Development of psychotherapy and formation of psychoanalysis

Over the years of working with famous therapists, Freud managed to make many useful contacts, which in the future led him to an internship with psychiatrist Jean Charcot. It was during this period that a revolution took place in the consciousness of the philosopher. The future psychoanalyst studied the basics of hypnosis and observed with his own eyes how, with the help of this phenomenon, the condition of Charcot’s patients improved. At this time, Freud began to practice a method of treatment such as a light conversation with patients, giving them the opportunity to get rid of the thoughts accumulated in their heads and change their perception of the world. This method of treatment became truly effective and made it possible not to use hypnosis on patients. The entire recovery process took place exclusively in the clear consciousness of the patient.

After successfully using the conversation method, Freud concluded that any psychosis is the consequences of the past, painful memories and experienced emotions, which are quite difficult to get rid of on your own. During the same period, the philosopher presented to the world the theory that most human problems are the consequences of the Oedipus complex and infantility. Freud also believed that sexuality is the basis of many psychological problems in people. He substantiated his assumptions in the work “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.” This theory created a real sensation in the world of psychology; heated discussions between psychiatrists continued for a long time, sometimes leading to real scandals. Many were even of the opinion that the scientist himself became a victim of a mental disorder. Sigmund Freud explored such a direction as psychoanalysis until the end of his days.

Freud's works

One of the psychotherapist’s most popular works today is a work called “The Interpretation of Dreams.” Initially, the work did not receive recognition among colleagues, and only in the future did many figures in the field of psychology and psychiatry appreciate Freud's arguments. The theory was based on the fact that dreams, as the scientist believed, have a strong influence on the physiological state of a person. After the book was published, Freud began to be invited to give lectures at various universities in Germany and the United States. For the scientist this was truly a great achievement.

After “The Interpretation of Dreams” the world saw the next work - “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. It became the basis for the creation of a topological model of the psyche.

Freud's fundamental work is considered to be the work entitled "Introduction to Psychoanalysis." This work is the basis of the concept, as well as ways of interpreting the theory and methods of psychoanalysis. The work clearly shows the scientist’s philosophy of thinking. In the future, this base will serve as the basis for creating a set of mental processes and phenomena, the definition of which is “Unconscious”.

Freud was also haunted by social phenomena; the psychoanalyst expressed his opinion on what influences the consciousness of society, the behavior of the leader, the privileges and respect that power gives in the book “Mass Psychology and Analysis of the Human Self.” Sigmund Freud's books do not lose their relevance to this day.

Secret society "The Committee"

The year 1910 brought discord to the team of followers and students of Sigmund Freud. The scientist’s opinion that psychological disorders and hysteria are the suppression of sexual energy did not find responses among the philosopher’s students, and disagreement with this theory led to controversy. Endless discussions and debates drove Freud crazy, and he decided to keep only those who adhered to the basics of his theory. Three years later, a virtual secret society arose, which was called the “Committee”. Sigmund Freud's life is full of great discoveries and interesting research.

Family and Children

For decades, the scientist had no contact with women; one might even say that he was afraid of their company. This strange behavior caused a lot of jokes and speculation, which put Freud in awkward situations. The philosopher has long argued that he can do just fine without female interference in his personal space. But Sigmund still could not escape the feminine charm. The love story is quite romantic: on the way to the printing house, the scientist almost fell under the wheels of a carriage; the frightened passenger, as a sign of apology, sent Freud an invitation to a ball. The invitation was accepted, and already at the event the philosopher met Martha Beirnais, who became his wife. All the time from the engagement to the beginning of their life together, Freud also communicated with Martha’s sister Minna. Because of this, there were frequent scandals in the family; the wife was categorically against it and convinced her husband to stop all communication with his sister. The constant scandals tired Sigmund, and he followed her instructions.

Martha gave birth to Freud six children, after which the scientist decided to completely abandon sex life. Anna was the last child in the family. It was she who spent the last years of his life with her father and after his death continued his work. A London children's psychotherapy center is named after Anna Freud.

last years of life

Continuous research and painstaking work greatly influenced Freud's condition. The scientist was diagnosed with cancer. After receiving news of the disease, a series of operations followed, which did not bring the desired result. Sigmund's last wish was to ask the doctor to save him from suffering and help him die. Therefore, in September 1939, a large dose of morphine interrupted Freud's life.

The scientist made a truly great contribution to the development of psychoanalysis. Museums were built and monuments were erected in his honor. The most important museum dedicated to Freud is located in London, in the house where the scientist lived, where due to circumstances he moved from Vienna. An important museum is located in the home town of Příbor, in the Czech Republic.

Facts from the life of a scientist

In addition to great achievements, the biography of the scientist is full of many interesting facts:

• Freud avoided the numbers 6 and 2, thus he avoided the “hell room”, number 62. Sometimes the mania reached the point of absurdity, and on February 6 the scientist did not appear on the streets of the city, thereby hiding from the negative events that could happen on that day .
• It's no secret that Freud considered his point of view the only correct one and demanded utmost attention from the listeners of his lectures.
• Sigmund had a phenomenal memory. He had no problem remembering any notes or important facts from books. That is why learning languages, even such complex ones as Latin, was relatively easy for Freud.
• Freud never looked people in the eye; many people focused their attention on this feature. There are rumors that it was for this reason that the famous couch appeared in the psychoanalyst’s office, which helped to avoid these awkward glances.

The publications of Sigmund Freud are the subject of discussion in the modern world. The scientist literally revolutionized the concept of psychoanalysis and made an invaluable contribution to the development of this field.