Freud's biography. Becoming a healer of human souls

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.

There are many conversations and interesting judgments around the personality of Sigmund Freud. This man is known to the world as an Austrian psychoanalyst, psychiatrist and psychologist. Acquired worldwide recognition due to the foundation of psychoanalysis and its essence. The ideas of Sigmund Freud influenced all of psychology, medicine, literature and even art of the last century.

However, despite the significance of the figure of Sigmund Freud, many researchers of his work and life consider Freud a charlatan. Interest in the personality of the Austrian psychoanalyst is still noticeable.

During his life, Freud wrote 24 volumes of essays. It is worth taking a closer look at his biography. After all, year after year, it is about Sigmund Freud that is written many times more than about any other world psychologist.

Childhood and youth

Sigmund Freud was born in 1856. The street where Freud was born and grew up is now named after him. The parents of the future psychoanalyst were Jews.

Sigmund lived for three years in his hometown, after which the family was forced to move. The boy had a hard time moving, and it was especially hard for him to part with his brother.

Sigmund's father instilled in the boy a love of reading. Sigmund seriously began to get involved in her literature at an early age. At first, the mother was engaged in teaching her son, but soon the father took up this business in the hope of sending Sigmund to a private gymnasium. Thanks to the craving for everything new and excellent ability to learn, Sigmund Freud passed the entrance exams and entered a private gymnasium at the age of 9 years.

Sigmund took the learning process seriously. He was fond of literature, several languages, including German, French, English, Spanish and Italian. He was also interested in Greek and Latin.

The boy became one of the best students and graduated from high school with honors at the age of 17.

Sigmund could not decide for a long time what profession to connect his fate with. The choice was small due to the social status of the family. It was decided to enter the medical faculty. However, as Freud himself often admitted, he never felt like a real doctor and had no desire to be one.

Professional activity

At the university, Freud began to study chemistry and anatomy. He enjoyed attending the lectures of the psychologist Ernst von Brücke, who had a strong influence on him. Freud also attended lectures on zoology.

The ambitious student also carried out research work at the Institute of Zoological Research of Trieste. There he wrote the first article published by the Academy of Sciences.

In the future, Freud had a great attraction to scientific work in the field of physiology. And even after receiving a doctorate degree, he continued to engage in this activity.

After some time, due to lack of material resources, Freud plunged into clinical practice, in particular surgery, with which he did not find close ties. Soon Sigmund switched to the field of neurology.

A couple of years later, Freud went to work in a psychiatric department. This period was very productive for the psychoanalyst. He completely immersed himself in his work, experiencing great passion for it. However, Freud was dissatisfied with his work, and therefore was in an eternal state of anguish.

In the 1980s, Freud became close to the psychiatrist Josef Breuer. Since that time, Freud's work on Psychoanalysis began. However, Freud's theory of the sexual conditioning of mental disorders caused a lot of discontent, including Brier.

Freud soon began to analyze his dreams. But his work "The Interpretation of Dreams" was sharply criticized. But the technique of extracting neuroses and hysteria was a success. Freud's ideas became popular and gained recognition.

last years of life

In his old age, Freud continued to work and write scientific papers. In 1930 he received the Goethe Prize for Literature.

In the last years of his life, the psychoanalyst suffered from jaw cancer. Freud died in 1939.

Biography 2

Sigmund Freud was a famous psychiatrist, the founder of the theory of psychoanalysis, which still causes controversial discussions.

05/06/1856 Z. Freud was born in the Czech city of Příbor in the family of a merchant of Jewish origin. The revolution destroyed the business of the scientist's father, in connection with which the whole family had to move to permanent residence in Vienna. Freud was a favorite child in the family, parents paid a lot of attention to his education. From childhood, Freud was fond of the works of various philosophers, read very serious books. He graduated from the local gymnasium with honors.

Due to his Jewish origin, Z. Freud was severely limited in the choice of possible specializations for study in higher educational institutions. Thus, universities had special quotas for Jewish admission only in certain specialties, such as medicine, law, trade and industrial development. At that time, the way for a Jew to other specialties was closed. From such a limited choice, Freud decided to become a physician, because this area was closest to him. However, the practice of medicine was not his dream, and he turned to psychology.

In 1855, Z. Freud decided to open his own neurological practice. Freud also studied the properties of cocaine, using it personally. In 1885, after practicing in France, Z. Freud began to use the abilities of hypnosis in the treatment of psychological problems of clients. He talked a lot with clients and gave them the opportunity to open their minds. This is how the still known “Method of free associations” appeared, in which the scientist, through the flow of thoughts of patients, found their problems. This method eliminated the need to use hypnosis to clients.

The scientist believed that psychosis is a trauma from the patient's experience, which is difficult to remove. He introduced the concept of the Oedipus complex, and was also the first to describe the presence of childhood signs of sexuality. Freud believed that most of the problems of people are generated by sexuality, its suppression and deviance. These theories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were a shock to the scientific community, they were sharply criticized and considered unscientific.

The most famous book of the scientist is "Introduction to Psychoanalysis", which outlines the fundamental theories of his concept of psychoanalysis. In subsequent times, this book has become mandatory for the study of all physicians and psychologists.

At the beginning of the 20th century, some of Freud's students considered some of the conclusions of the scientist to be contrary to reality, which later led to a split in the Freudian school of psychoanalysis.

Sigmund's relationships with women were very difficult. For a long time he was not connected with anyone in a serious relationship. However, after a certain time, Freud married Martha, who almost ran over the scientist with a carriage. The life of the spouses was not quiet and calm. Marta had a rather quarrelsome and jealous character, constantly arranged disassembly and tantrums for Sigmund. She gave birth to 6 children. Freud's youngest daughter Anna continued his research in psychoanalysis.

Freud had a kind of eidetic memory, which made him virtually a genius.

Sigmund was diagnosed with cancer. After many unsuccessful operations, Freud took morphine and died on September 23, 1939.

Biography by dates and interesting facts. The most important.

Other biographies:

  • Ivan Susanin

    Ivan Susanin is a peasant, a native of the Kostroma district. He is a national hero of Russia, as he saved the tsar, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, from the Poles who came to kill him.

  • Roald Amundsen

    Roald Amundsen, the first man in history to conquer the South Pole, was born on July 16, 1872 in Norway in the port city of Borg.

  • Ray Bradbury

    Ray Bradbury, the most famous author of science fiction works, whose books have been translated into more than 40 languages ​​of the world, was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, USA, in the family of a telephone line repairman and a Swedish immigrant

  • Sergius of Radonezh

    Sergius's parents, Cyril and Maria, were pious people. They lived in Tver. There the future saint was born, approximately in 1314, during the reign of Prince Dmitry. Metropolitan of the Russian land was Peter.

  • Tyutchev Fedor Ivanovich

    The writer was born on November 23, 1803 in the Oryol province. The family was noble. Tyutchev had his favorite teacher-mentor Yegor Ranch

Biography of Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Shlomo Freud, the creator of the direction that became known as depth psychology and psychoanalysis, was born on May 6, 1856 in the small Moravian town of Freiburg (now Příbor) into the family of a poor wool merchant. He was the firstborn of a young mother. After Sigmund, the Freuds had five daughters and another son between 1858 and 1866. In 1859, when the wool trade declined, the family moved to Leipzig, and in 1860 the family moved to Vienna, where the future famous scientist lived for about 80 years. "Poverty and poverty, poverty and extreme squalor," Freud recalled his childhood. There were 8 children in a large family, but only Sigmund stood out for his exceptional abilities, surprisingly sharp mind and passion for reading. Therefore, the parents sought to create the best conditions for him. If other children were taught lessons by candlelight, then Sigmund was given a kerosene lamp. So that the children would not interfere with him, they were not allowed to play music with him. All eight years in the gymnasium, Freud sat on the first bench and was the best student. Freud felt his vocation very early. “I want to know all the acts of nature that have taken place over the millennia. Perhaps I will be able to listen to its endless process, and then I will share what I have acquired with everyone who is thirsty for knowledge,” the 17-year-old high school student wrote to a friend. He impressed with erudition, spoke Greek and Latin, read Hebrew, French and English, knew Italian and Spanish.

He graduated from the gymnasium with honors at the age of 17 and entered the famous University of Vienna at the Faculty of Medicine in 1873.

Vienna was then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its cultural and intellectual center. Outstanding professors taught at the university. While studying at the university, Freud joined the student union for the study of history, politics, philosophy (this later affected his concepts of cultural development). But of particular interest to him were the natural sciences, the achievements of which made a real revolution in the minds in the middle of the last century, laying the foundation for modern knowledge about the body, about living nature. From the great discoveries of this era - the law of conservation of energy and the law of evolution of the organic world established by Darwin - Freud drew the conviction that scientific knowledge is knowledge of the causes of phenomena under the strict control of experience. Freud relied on both laws when he later turned to the study of human behavior. He imagined the body as a kind of apparatus, charged with energy, which is discharged either in normal or pathological reactions. Unlike physical apparatuses, the organism is a product of the evolution of the entire human race and the life of an individual. These principles extended to the psyche. It was also considered, firstly, from the point of view of the energy resources of the individual, which serve as the "fuel" of his actions and experiences, and secondly, from the point of view of the development of this personality, which bears the memory of the childhood of all mankind, and of his own childhood. Freud, thus, was brought up on the principles and ideals of an exact, experimental natural science - physics and biology. He did not limit himself to describing phenomena, but looked for their causes and laws (this approach is known as determinism, and in all subsequent work Freud is a determinist). He followed these ideals even when he moved into the field of psychology. His teacher was the outstanding European physiologist Ernst Brücke. Under his leadership, the student Freud worked at the Vienna Physiological Institute, sitting for many hours at the microscope. In his old age, being an internationally recognized psychologist, he wrote to one of his friends that he had never been so happy as during the years spent in the laboratory studying the structure of nerve cells in the spinal cord of animals. The ability to work with concentration, completely devoting oneself to scientific pursuits, developed during this period, Freud retained for subsequent decades.

In 1881 Freud graduated from the university. He intended to become a professional scientist. But Brücke did not have a vacancy at the Physiological Institute. Meanwhile, Freud's financial situation worsened. Difficulties were exacerbated in connection with the upcoming marriage to the same poor as he was, Martha Verneuil. Science had to leave and look for a livelihood. There was only one way out - to become a practicing doctor, although he did not feel any attraction to this profession. He decided to enter private practice as a neurologist. To do this, he had to first go to work in a clinic, since he had no medical experience. In the clinic, Freud thoroughly masters the methods of diagnosing and treating children with brain damage (infantile paralysis), as well as various speech disorders (aphasias). His publications about this are becoming known in scientific and medical circles. Freud gains a reputation as a highly qualified neuropathologist. He treated his patients with the methods of physiotherapy accepted at that time. It was believed that since the nervous system is a material organ, then the painful changes that occur in it must have material causes. Therefore, they should be eliminated through physical procedures, affecting the patient with heat, water, electricity, etc. Very soon, however, Freud began to experience dissatisfaction with these physiotherapeutic procedures. The effectiveness of the treatment left much to be desired, and he considered the possibility of using other methods, in particular hypnosis, with which some doctors achieved good results. One of these successful practitioners was Joseph Breuer, who began to patronize the young Freud in everything (1884). Together they discussed the causes of their patients' diseases and the prospects for treatment. The patients who came to them were mostly women suffering from hysteria. The disease manifested itself in various symptoms - fears (phobias), loss of sensitivity, aversion to food, split personality, hallucinations, spasms, etc.

Using light hypnosis (a suggested state similar to sleep), Breuer and Freud asked their patients to recount the events that once accompanied the onset of symptoms of illness. It turned out that when the patients were able to remember this and "speak out", the symptoms disappeared at least for a while. This effect Breuer called the ancient Greek word "catharsis" (purification). Ancient philosophers used this word to denote the experiences caused in a person by the perception of works of art (music, tragedy). It was assumed that these works cleanse the soul from the affects that darken it, thereby bringing "harmless joy." Breuer transferred this term from aesthetics to psychotherapy. Behind the concept of catharsis was a hypothesis according to which the symptoms of the disease arise due to the fact that the patient had previously experienced a tense, affectively colored attraction to some action. Symptoms (fears, spasms, etc.) symbolically replace this unrealized, but desired action. The energy of attraction is discharged in a perverted form, as if "stuck" in the organs, which begin to work abnormally. Therefore, it was assumed that the main task of the doctor is to make the patient relive the repressed desire and thereby give the energy (nerve-psychic energy) a different direction, namely, to transfer it into the channel of catharsis, to defuse the repressed desire in telling the doctor about him. This version of the affectively colored memories that traumatized the patient and therefore repressed from consciousness, the disposal of which has a therapeutic effect (movement disorders disappear, sensitivity is restored, etc.), contained the germ of Freud's future psychoanalysis. First of all, in these clinical studies, an idea "cut through" to which Freud invariably returned. Conflict relations between consciousness and unconscious, but disturbing the normal course of behavior, mental states clearly came to the fore. Philosophers and psychologists have long known that beyond the threshold of consciousness past impressions, memories, ideas that can influence its work are crowded. The new points on which the thought of Breuer and Freud lingered concerned, firstly, the resistance that consciousness renders to the unconscious, as a result of which diseases of the sense organs and movements arise (up to temporary paralysis), and secondly, the appeal to means that allow remove this resistance, first to hypnosis, and then to the so-called "free associations", which will be discussed later. Hypnosis weakened the control of consciousness, and sometimes completely removed it. This made it easier for the hypnotized patient to solve the problem that Breuer and Freud set - to "pour out the soul" in the story of the experiences repressed from consciousness.

In 1884 Freud, as an intern at the hospital, was sent a sample of cocaine for examination. He publishes an article in a medical journal that ends with the words: "The use of cocaine, based on its anesthetic properties, will find a place in other cases." This article was read by the surgeon Karl Koller, Freud's comrade, and conducted research at the Stricker Institute for Experimental Pathology on the anesthetic properties of cocaine in the eyes of a frog, rabbit, dog and his own. With the discovery of anesthesia by Koller, a new era began in ophthalmology - he became a benefactor of mankind. Freud indulged in painful reflections for a long time and could not reconcile himself that the discovery did not belong to him.

In 1885 he received the title of privatdozent, and he was given a scholarship for a scientific internship abroad. French doctors used hypnosis especially successfully, to study the experience of which Freud traveled to Paris for several months to the famous neurologist Charcot (now his name has been preserved in connection with one of the physiotherapeutic procedures - the so-called Charcot shower). It was a wonderful doctor, nicknamed "Napoleon of neuroses." He treated most of the royal families of Europe. Freud, a young Viennese doctor, joined the large crowd of trainees who constantly accompanied the celebrity during rounds of patients and during their hypnotic treatment sessions. The chance helped Freud get closer to Charcot, to whom he approached with a proposal to translate his lectures into German. In these lectures, it was stated that the cause of hysteria, like any other diseases, should be sought only in physiology, in a violation of the normal functioning of the body, the nervous system. In one of his conversations with Freud, Charcot noted that the source of oddities in the behavior of a neurotic lurks in the peculiarities of his sexual life. This observation sunk into Freud's head, especially since he himself, and other doctors, were faced with the dependence of nervous diseases on sexual factors. A few years later, under the influence of these observations and assumptions, Freud put forward a postulate that gave all his subsequent concepts, whatever psychological problems they may concern, a special color and forever connected his name with the idea of ​​the omnipotence of sexuality in all human affairs. This idea of ​​the role of sexual attraction as the main engine of people's behavior, their history and culture gave Freudianism a specific coloring, strongly associated it with ideas that reduce all the countless variety of manifestations of life activity to a direct or disguised intervention of sexual forces. This approach, referred to as "pansexualism", gained Freud immense popularity in many Western countries - moreover, far beyond the boundaries of psychology. This principle began to be seen as a kind of universal key to all human problems.

As already mentioned, Breuer and Freud came to the clinic after several years of work in the physiological laboratory. Both were naturalists to the marrow of their bones, and before they entered medicine, they had already gained fame for their discoveries in the physiology of the nervous system. Therefore, in their medical practice, they, unlike ordinary empiricists, were guided by the theoretical ideas of advanced physiology. At that time, the nervous system was considered as an energy machine. Breuer and Freud thought in terms of nervous energy. They assumed that its balance in the body is disturbed during neurosis (hysteria), returning to a normal level due to the discharge of this energy, which is catharsis. Being a brilliant connoisseur of the structure of the nervous system, its cells and fibers, which he studied for years with a scalpel and microscope, Freud made a brave attempt to outline the theoretical scheme of the processes occurring in the nervous system when its energy does not find a normal outlet, but is discharged along the paths leading to disruption of the organs of vision, hearing, muscular apparatus and other symptoms of the disease. Records have been preserved outlining this scheme, which has already received high praise from physiologists in our time. But Freud was extremely dissatisfied with his project (it is known as the "Project of Scientific Psychology"). Freud soon parted with him, and with physiology, to which he devoted years of hard work. This did not mean at all that he from then on considered the appeal to physiology to be meaningless. On the contrary, Freud believed that in time knowledge of the nervous system would advance so far that a worthy physiological equivalent would be found for his psychoanalytic ideas. But contemporary physiology, as his painful reflections on the "Project of Scientific Psychology" showed, could not be counted on.

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. With Marta, a fragile girl from a Jewish family, he met in 1882. They exchanged hundreds of letters, but met quite rarely. 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 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. The exact date when Freud deciphered his first dream is known - July 14, 1895. Subsequent analyzes led him to the conclusion: in a dream, unfulfilled desires are fulfilled. Sleep is a substitute for action; in its saving fantasy, the soul is freed from excess tension.

Continuing the practice of a psychotherapist, Freud turned from individual behavior to social. In cultural monuments (myths, customs, art, literature, etc.), he was looking for the expression of all the same complexes, all the same sexual instincts and perverted ways to satisfy them. Following the trends in the biologization of the human psyche, Freud extended the so-called biogenetic law to explain its development. According to this law, the individual development of an organism (ontogeny) in a brief and concise form repeats the main stages of development of the entire species (phylogenesis). With regard to the child, this meant that, moving from one age to another, he follows the main stages that the human race has gone through in its history. Guided by this version, Freud argued that the core of the unconscious psyche of the modern child is formed from the ancient heritage of mankind. In the fantasies of the child and his desires, the wild instincts of our wild ancestors are reproduced. Freud did not have any objective data in favor of this scheme. It was purely speculative and speculative. Modern child psychology, having a huge amount of experimentally verified material on the evolution of child behavior, completely rejects this scheme. A carefully conducted comparison of the cultures of many peoples clearly speaks against it. It did not reveal those complexes which, according to Freud, hang like a curse over the entire human race and doom every mortal to neurosis. Freud hoped that by drawing information about sexual complexes not from the reactions of his patients, but from cultural monuments, he would give his schemes universality and greater persuasiveness. In fact, his excursions into the realm of history only strengthened in scientific circles distrust of the claims of psychoanalysis. His appeal to data concerning the psyche of "primitive people", "savages" (Freud relied on the literature on anthropology), aimed to prove the similarity between their thinking and behavior and the symptoms of neuroses. This was discussed in his work "Totem and Taboo" (1913).

Since then, Freud has taken the path of applying the concepts of his psychoanalysis to the fundamental questions of religion, morality, and the history of society. It was a path that turned out to be a dead end. Social relations of people depend not on sexual complexes, not on libido and its transformations, but it is the nature and structure of these relations that ultimately determine the mental life of the individual, including the motives of her behavior.

Not these cultural and historical studies of Freud, but his ideas regarding the role of unconscious drives both in neuroses and in everyday life, his focus on deep psychotherapy became the center of the unification around Freud of a large community of doctors, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists. Gone are the days when his books did not arouse any interest. So, it took 8 years for the book "The Interpretation of Dreams", printed in 600 copies, to be sold out. The same number of copies are sold monthly in the West these days. Freud gets international fame.

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 "Psychological Society on Wednesdays", which met with Freud, is transformed into the "Vienna Psychoanalytic Society". In 1909 he was invited to the USA, and many scientists listened to his lectures, including the patriarch of American psychology, William James. Embracing Freud, he said: "The future is yours."

In 1910, the First International Congress on Psychoanalysis met in Nuremberg. True, soon among this community, which declared psychoanalysis a special science, different from psychology, strife began, which led to its collapse. Many of yesterday's closest associates of Freud broke with him and created their own schools and directions. Among them were such, in particular, researchers who became major psychologists, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Jung. Most parted ways with Freud because of his adherence to the principle of the omnipotence of the sexual instinct. Both the facts of psychotherapy and their theoretical understanding spoke against this dogma.

Soon, Freud himself had to make adjustments to his scheme. This is what life forced me to do. The First World War broke out. Among the military doctors there were also those familiar with the methods of psychoanalysis. The patients they now had were suffering from neuroses not related to sexual experiences, but to the wartime trials that had traumatized them. Freud also encounters these patients. His earlier concept of neurotic dreams, inspired by the treatment of the Viennese bourgeois at the end of the 19th century, turned out to be unsuitable for interpreting the mental trauma that arose in combat conditions in yesterday's soldiers and officers. The fixation of Freud's new patients on these traumas caused by the encounter with death gave him reason to put forward a version of a special attraction, as powerful as sexual, and therefore provoking a painful fixation on events associated with fear, anxiety, etc. This special instinct, which, along with sexual, in the foundation of any form of behavior, Freud designated the ancient Greek term Thanatos as the opposite of Eros - the force that, according to Plato's philosophy, means love in broad sense words, therefore, not only sexual love. The name Thanatos meant a special attraction to death, to the destruction of either others or oneself. Thus, aggressiveness was elevated to the rank of an eternal biological impulse inherent in the very nature of man. The notion of the primordial aggressiveness of a person once again exposed the anti-historicism of Freud's concept, permeated with disbelief in the possibility of eliminating the causes that give rise to violence.

In 1915-1917. he spoke at the University of Vienna with a large course published under the title "Introductory Lectures into Psychoanalysis". The course required additions, he published them in the form of 8 lectures in 1933.

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.

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.

In 1933, fascism came to power in Germany. Among the books burned by the ideologists of the "new order" were Freud's books. Upon learning of this, Freud exclaimed: "What progress we have made! In the Middle Ages they would have burned me; today they are content with burning my books." He did not suspect that several years would pass, and millions of Jews and other victims of Nazism would die in the ovens of Auschwitz and Majdanek, among them the four sisters of Freud. He himself, a world-famous scientist, would have met the same fate after the capture of Austria by the Nazis, if, through the mediation of the American ambassador in France, permission had not been obtained for his emigration to England. Before leaving, he had to give a receipt that the Gestapo treated him politely and carefully and that he had no reason to complain. Putting his signature, Freud asked: could it not be added that he could cordially recommend the Gestapo to everyone? In England, Freud was received enthusiastically, but his days were numbered. He suffered from pain, and at his request, his doctor Max Schur gave two injections of morphine, which put an end to the suffering. It happened in London on September 21, 1939.

http://zigmund.ru/

http://www.psychoanalyse.ru/index.html

http://www.bibliotekar.ru/index.htm

On December 7, 1938, a BBC team visited Sigmund Freud at his new flat in north London, Hampstead. Just a few months earlier, he had moved from Austria to England to escape Nazi persecution. Freud is 81, his speech is extremely difficult - he has terminal cancer of the jaw. On that day, the only known audio recording of the voice of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis and one of the most influential intellectual figures of the 20th century, was created.

Text of his speech:

I started my professional activity as a neurologist trying to bring relief to my neurotic patients. Under the influence of an older friend and by my own efforts, I discovered some important new facts about the unconscious in psychic life, the role of instinctual urges, and so on. Out of these findings grew a new science, psychoanalysis, a part of psychology, and a new method of treatment of the neuroses. I had to pay heavily for this bit of good luck. People did not believe in my facts and thought my theories unsavory. Resistance was strong and unrelenting. In the end I succeeded in acquiring pupils and building up an International Psychoanalytic Association.But the struggle is not yet over.

I started my professional career as a neuropathologist, trying to bring relief to my neurotic patients. Under the influence of an older friend, and by my own efforts, I discovered a number of important new facts about the unconscious in mental life, the role of instinctual drives, and so on. From these discoveries a new science has grown - psychoanalysis, a part of psychology, and a new method of treating neuroses. I had to pay dearly for this little bit of luck. People didn't believe in my facts and thought my theories were dubious. The resistance was strong and inexorable. In the end, I managed to find students and I created the International Psychoanalytic Association. But the fight is not over yet.

One of the incredible and very talented people, whose creations still do not leave any scientist indifferent, is Sigmund Freud (whose years of life and death are 1856-1939). All his works are in the public domain and are used in the treatment of most people.

The biography of Sigmund Freud is rich in many events and incidents. Briefly about the main thing can be found in this article.

Psychoanalyst, neurologist, psychologist - all this is about him. He managed to reveal many secrets of our invisible consciousness, get to the truth of human fears and instincts, understand the secrets of our ego and leave behind an incredible store of knowledge.

Sigmund Freud: date of birth and death

The famous scientist was born on May 6, 1856, and died on September 23, 1939. Place of birth - Freiberg (Austria). Full name - Sigmund Shlomo Freud. Lived 83 years.

Freud Sigmund spent the first years of his life with his family in the city of Freiberg. His father (Jacob Freud) was an ordinary wool merchant. The boy loved him very much, as well as his half-brothers and sisters.

Jacob Freud had a second wife - Amalia, mother of Sigmund. There is a very interesting fact that Freud's maternal grandmother was from Odessa.

Until the age of sixteen, Sigmund's mother lived with her family in Odessa. Soon they moved to live in Vienna, where the mother met the father of the future talented psychologist. Since she was almost half the age of Jacob, and his older sons were her age, people started a rumor that one of them had an affair with a young stepmother.

Little Sigmund also had his own brothers and sister.

Childhood period

Freud's childhood years were quite difficult, because it was precisely because of the events experienced during that period that the young psychologist was able to draw interesting conclusions related to childhood in general and the problems of youth in particular.

So, Shlomo lost his brother Julius, after which he felt shame and remorse. After all, he did not always show warm feelings for him. It seemed to Freud that the brother takes a lot of time from the parents, and therefore they do not have enough strength for their other children. After that, the future psychoanalyst issued two verdicts:

  1. All children in the family consider each other special rivals among themselves, without realizing it. They often wish each other the worst.
  2. Regardless of how the family positions itself (friendly or unfavorable), if a child feels guilty about something, he develops various nervous diseases.

The biography of Sigmund Freud was predicted to the mother even before his birth. One of the fortune-tellers once told her that her first child would be very famous and smart, would have a special mindset and erudition, and in a few years the whole world would know about him. From this, Amalia was too reverent towards Sigmund.

In his early years, Freud was really different from other children. He began to speak and read early, and went to school a year earlier than other children. He had no speech problems. Freud knew how to express his point of view well. It is incredible that such a great man could not stand up for himself, and even his peers mocked him. Despite this, Freud graduated from the gymnasium with excellent marks. Then it's time to think about the future.

The Early Years of Sigmund Freud

As a Jew, he could become a doctor, a salesman (like his father), take up a craft or take the side of the law. However, his father's work seemed uninteresting to him, and the craft did not inspire the future great psychiatrist. He could have become a good lawyer, but nature took its toll, and the young man took up medicine. In 1873, Sigmund Freud entered the university.

Personal life and family of a scientist

The professional biography and personal life of Sigmund Freud are closely intertwined. It seems that it was love that pushed him to magnificent discoveries.

Medicine was easy for him, with the help of various diagnostic conclusions, he came to psychoanalysis and made his own conclusions, made small observations and constantly wrote them down in his notebook. Sigmund knew that he could become a private doctor, and this would give him a good income. And he needed him for one big reason - Martha Bernays.

Sigmund saw her for the first time when Marta came to his sister's house. Then the heart of the young scientist caught fire. He was not afraid to be frank and knew how to behave with the opposite sex. Every evening, Freud's beloved received a gift from him - a red rose, as well as an offer to meet. So they secretly spent time, because Martha's family was very rich, and parents would not allow an ordinary Jew to marry their daughter. After the second month of meetings, Shlomo confessed his love to Martha and offered his hand and heart. Despite the fact that her answer was mutual, Martha's mother took her away from the city.

Young Shlomo decided not to give up and fight for marriage with a young beauty. And he achieved this after going into private practice. They lived together for over 50 years and raised six children.

Freud's practice and innovation

The chosen profession enriched him financially and morally. The young doctor was going to help people, in order to do this, he had to test the proven methods on himself. Knowing some of the tricks he learned in the hospitals he trained in, Freud put them into practice based on the patient's problems. For example, hypnosis was used to penetrate the patient's old memories and help him find the problem that was tearing his flesh. Baths or massage showers are practiced to treat nervous exacerbations. Once Z. Freud came across studies on the benefits of cocaine, which at that time did not receive wide popularity. And he immediately tried the technique.

Freud was sure that this substance does more good than harm. He spoke about the connection of mind and body, that after the endured bliss, all stress evaporates and goes away. He began to advise this way of using cocaine to other people, after which he was very sorry.

It turned out that people with acute mental neurosis are completely contraindicated in such methods. Most of the indicators worsened after the first application, and it was almost impossible to restore them. And this meant for Freud only one thing - it is necessary to look for the cause of all diseases in the subconscious of a person. And then the psychoanalyst acted as follows: he broke the parts of life into separate fragments, looked for a problem in them and brought his own hypothesis of the disease. For a better understanding of his own patients, he came up with this method. This method was used in this way: the psychologist named certain words that could somehow affect the patient's psyche, and he in response named other words that first came to his mind. As Freud argued, in this way he directly explored the psyche. All that remained was to interpret the answers correctly.

This new approach of psychoanalysis amazed thousands of people who came to him for a session. Recording was carried out for years ahead. This was the beginning for the development of their own theories.

The book "The Study of Hysteria" in 1985 brought even more fame to the scientist, in which he singled out three components of the structure of our consciousness: id, ego and superego.

  1. Id - psychological component, unconscious (instinct).
  2. The ego is a person's own impulses.
  3. Superego - the norms and rules of society.

The whole book describes these factors in interrelation. To understand this process, you need to understand the relationship of each of them to the person as a whole. Such a scientific development seems too complicated and abstruse, but Freud easily explains it with a simple example. The first factor may be the student's feeling of hunger in the lesson, the second - the appropriate actions, and the third - the realization that these actions will be wrong. It follows from this that the human ego regulates the process between the id and the superego. Thus, the student will not eat at the lesson. Knowing that this is not accepted, he will be able to restrain himself. Then it turns out that people who do not regulate the ego process have various mental deviations.

Developing this idea, the scientist deduced the following personality models:

  1. Unconscious.
  2. Preconscious.
  3. Conscious.

In 1902, a community of psychoanalysts was founded, which included famous scientists such as Otto Rank, Sandor Ferenczi, and others. Freud was active in this cell. Periodically wrote his works. So, for the first time he presented to the public the work "Psychopathology of everyday life", which attracted a lot of people's attention.

In 1905, Z. Freud published his practice entitled: “Three studies on the theory of sexuality”, where he explains the relationship of sexual problems in adulthood with early psychological trauma in childhood. Society did not like such work, and the author was instantly bombarded with humiliating insults. However, there was no end to the patients. It is Freud who introduces normal life circumstances into the concept of sex. He discusses the problems of sex in a normal everyday context. The scientist explains this by a simple natural instinct that wakes up completely in everyone. Dreams are also interpreted in the order of sexual characteristics.

Based on this teaching, the professor invented a new concept - the Oedipus complex. It is closely connected with the childhood of the child and the unconscious attraction to one of the parents. Freud gave parents methodological recommendations for raising children so that in adulthood they would not have sexual problems.

Other methods of Z. Freud

Freud later developed a method for analyzing dreams. It is with the help of them, as he argued, that the problem of man can be solved. Dreams are dreamed by people on purpose, in this way the consciousness transmits a signal and helps to find a way out of the current situation, but people, as a rule, do not know how to do this on their own. Sigmund Freud began to receive patients and interpret their dreams, he listened to the most secret secrets of his acquaintances and people completely unfamiliar to him, increasingly realizing that all the difficulties are associated with childhood or sexual life.

Such premises again did not please the community of psychoanalysts, but Freud began to develop the doctrine further.

Turning years

The years 1914-1919 became a big shock for the scientist; as a result of the First World War, he lost all his money and, most importantly, his daughter. On the front line at that time were two more of his sons, he was in constant torment, worrying about their lives.

These sensations served to create a new theory - the death instinct.

Sigmund had hundreds of chances to become rich again, he was even offered to become a member of the film, but the scientist refused. And in 1930 he was awarded a prize for his enormous contribution to psychiatry. Such an event raised Freud again, and three years later he began to lecture on the topics of love, death and sexuality.

Old patients and strangers began to come to his performances. People asked Freud to hold private receptions for them, promising to pay huge sums of money.

Now Freud is becoming a famous neurologist and psychiatrist, colleagues are beginning to use his works, refer to his methods and even request the right to use them in their own sessions.

For Freud, these were the best years of his life.

Sigmund Freud and his publications

Many terms that psychologists now use in professional speech or simply study in lectures are interpreted by Z. Freud himself based on his hypotheses. The institutes have a course of lectures that briefly tells the biography of Sigmund Freud and his main works.

There are dream books according to Z. Freud, as well as books for everyday reading:

  • "I and It";
  • "The Curse of Virginity";
  • "Psychology of sexuality";
  • "Introduction to Psychoanalysis";
  • "Reservations";
  • "Letters to the Bride".

Such books are accessible to the understanding of ordinary people who are little familiar with psychological terms.

Last days of the great scientist

In constant search and work, the scientist spent his best years of his life. Freud's death shocked many. The man suffered from pain in the throat and mouth. Later, a tumor was found, due to which he underwent dozens of operations, losing the pleasant appearance of his face. During his years of life, Z. Freud managed to make an important contribution to many areas of human life. It would seem that a little more time, and he would have created much more.

But, unfortunately, the disease took its toll. The man had previously concluded an agreement with his attending physician, and when he did not want to endure it anymore, and there was also no need to force all his relatives to look at it, Z. Freud turned to him and said goodbye to this world. After the injection, he calmly fell into an eternal sleep.

Conclusion

In general, the years of Freud's life were interesting and fruitful. The author of so many scientific articles, theories, books and techniques did not live the most modest life. The biography of Sigmund Freud is full of ups, downs and exciting stories. He was able to see beyond the human consciousness. Freud achieved a lot in life, despite the fact that he was silent and unable to repulse his peers. Or maybe it was the isolation that was able to direct his energy in the right direction.

After the death of the scientist, there were like-minded people and those who mastered his practices. They began to sell their services. To date, Freud's research is still relevant and studied, many earn a lot of money on them. Sigmund Freud (years of life and death of a scientist - 1856-1939) made an invaluable contribution to the development of psychology and neurology.

Sigmund Freud (full name - Sigismund Shlomo Freud) was born on May 6, 1856 in the town of Freiberg. Today it is the Czech city of Příbor, and at that time Freiberg, like the whole of the Czech Republic, was part of the Austrian Empire. The ancestors of his father, Jacob Freud, lived in Germany, and his mother, Amalia Natanson, was from Odessa. She was thirty years younger than her husband and, in fact, played the role of leader in the family.

Jacob Freud had his own textile business. Soon after the birth of the future famous psychoanalyst, hard days came for his father's business. Having practically gone bankrupt, he and his whole family moved first to Leipzig, and then to Vienna. The first years in the Austrian capital were difficult for the Freuds, but after a couple of years, Jacob, Sigmund's father, got to his feet, and their lives more or less improved.

Getting an education

Sigmund graduated with honors from the gymnasium, but all universities were not opened before him. He was limited by the lack of funds in the family and anti-Semitic sentiments in high school. The impetus for making a decision about further education was a lecture he once heard about nature, built on the basis of Goethe's philosophical essay. Freud entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna, but quickly realized that a career as a general practitioner was not for him. He was much more attracted to psychology, which he became interested in at the lectures of the famous psychologist Ernst von Brucke. In 1881, having received a medical degree, he continued to work in the Brücke laboratory, but this activity did not generate income and Freud got a job as a doctor in the Vienna Hospital. After working for several months in surgery, the young doctor switched to neurology. In the course of his medical practice, he studied methods of treating paralysis in children and even published several scientific articles on this topic. He was the first to use the term "infantile cerebral palsy", and his work in this area earned him a reputation as a good neuropathologist. Later, he published articles in which he created the first classification of cerebral palsy.

Gaining Medical Experience

In 1983, Freud moved to serve in the psychiatric department. Work in psychiatry inspired several scientific publications, including the article "Studies in Hysteria", written later (in 1895) with the physician Josef Breuer and considered the first scientific work in the history of psychoanalysis. In the next two years, Freud changed his specialization several times. He worked in the venereal department of the hospital, while studying the relationship of syphilis with diseases of the nervous system. Then he moved to the Department of Nervous Diseases.

During this period of his activity, Freud turned to the study of the psychostimulant properties of cocaine. He tested the effects of cocaine on himself. Freud was greatly impressed by the analgesic properties of this substance, used it in his medical practice and promoted it as an effective medicine in the treatment of depression, neuroses, alcoholism, certain types of drug addiction, syphilis and sexual disorders. Sigmund Freud published several scientific papers on the properties of cocaine and its use in medicine. The medical and scientific community lashed out at him for these articles. A few years later, cocaine was recognized by all doctors in Europe as a dangerous drug, the same as opium and alcohol. However, by that time Freud had already become addicted to cocaine and even hooked several of his acquaintances and patients on cocaine.

In 1985, the young doctor managed to get an internship at a psychiatric clinic in Paris. In the capital of France, he worked under the guidance of the famous psychiatrist Jean Charcot. Freud himself had very high hopes for an internship under the guidance of a venerable scientist. He wrote at that time to his fiancee: "... I will go to Paris, become a great scientist and return to Vienna with a big, just a huge halo over my head." Returning from France the following year, Freud actually opened his own neuropathological practice, where he treated neuroses with hypnosis.

Family life of Sigmund Freud

A year after returning from Paris, Freud married Martha Bernays. They had known each other for four years, but Freud, who did not have a good income, did not consider himself capable of providing for his wife, who was used to living in abundance. Private medical practice brought the best income, and in September 1886, Sigmund and Marta got married. Biographers of the great psychoanalyst note very strong and tender feelings that connected Freud and Bernays. In the four years that have passed from acquaintance to marriage, Sigmund wrote more than 900 letters to his bride. They lived in love for 53 years - until the death of Freud. Martha once said that in all these 53 years they had not said a single angry or offensive word to each other. The wife bore Freud six children. The youngest daughter of Sigmund Freud followed in her father's footsteps. Anna Freud was the founder of child psychoanalysis.

Creation of psychoanalysis and contribution to science

By the mid-1990s, Freud was firmly convinced that the cause of hysterical states was repressed memories of a sexual nature. In 1986, the father of Sigmund Freud died and the scientist fell into a severe depression. Freud decided to treat the neurosis that had developed on the basis of depression on his own - by studying his childhood memories by the method of free association. To enhance the effectiveness of self-treatment, Freud turned to the analysis of his dreams. This practice turned out to be very painful, but gave the expected result. In 1990, Sigmund Freud published what he considered to be the main work in psychoanalysis: The Interpretation of Dreams.

The release of the book did not make a splash in the scientific community, but gradually a group of followers and like-minded people began to form around Freud. The meeting of psychoanalysts in Freud's house was called the Wednesday Psychological Society. Within a few years, this society has grown significantly. Freud himself, meanwhile, published several more works significant for the theory of psychoanalysis, including: "Wit and its relation to the unconscious" and "Three essays on the theory of sexuality." At the same time, Freud's popularity as a practicing psychoanalyst grew steadily. Patients from other countries began to come to see him. In 1909, Freud received an invitation to lecture in the United States. The following year, his book Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis was published.

In 1913, Sigmund Freud published the book "Totem and Taboo", dedicated to the origin of morality and religion. In 1921, Mass Psychology and the Analysis of the Human Self was published, in which the scientist uses the tools of psychoanalysis to explain social phenomena.

The last years of Sigmund Freud's life

In 1923, Freud was diagnosed with a malignant tumor of the palate. The operation to remove it was unsuccessful and subsequently he had to undergo surgery three dozen more times. Stopping the spreading tumor required the removal of part of the jaw. After that, Sigmund Freud could not lecture. He was still actively invited to various events, but his daughter Anna spoke for him, reading out his works.

After Hitler came to power in Germany and the subsequent Anschluss of Austria, the position of the scientist in his native country became extremely difficult. His psychological association was banned, books were removed from libraries and shops and burned, along with books by Heine, Kafka and Einstein. After the Gestapo arrested his daughter, Freud decided to leave the country. It turned out to be not easy, the Nazi authorities demanded a significant amount of money for permission to emigrate. Ultimately, with the help of many influential people in the world, Freud managed to emigrate to England. The departure from the country coincided with the progress of the disease. Freud asked his friend and attending physician about euthanasia. On September 23, 1939, Sigmund Freud died as a result of an injection of morphine.