Unknown information about Sigmund Freud.

He was an Austrian Jew, who founded psychoanalysis. He was born at Freiberg in Moravia on 6^th May 1856. His family integrated into Vienna when he was only five; he received his medical degree from the University of Vienna in 1881.

When the Nazis occupied Austria in 1938, Freud, being a Jew, was forced to flee to England where he died on 23^rd September 1939, after suffering from cancer of jaw for 16 years.

As a young student, Sigmund was interested in diverse areas of learning including philosophy, history of culture and chemistry. He studied physiology and anatomy and finally chose the study of medicine. He secured his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1881 at the age of twenty-five.

After practising medicine in Paris during 1885-1886, Freud returned to Vienna. Here his experiments on the use of hypnosis in the treatment of hysteria marked the beginning of psychoanalysis.

He rocked the medical world by claiming that many symptoms of mental illness could be traced back to suppressed memories of childhood experiences. Like physical illness, mental illness could be treated by getting to its causes; the method being hypnosis. The method was poorly received by the medical profession.

Sigmund Freud 

In 1907 many young psychiatrists like C.G. Jung and Alfred Adler joined Freud. In 1909 Freud’s theories first received public recognition when he was invited to give a series of lectures at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

Freud wrote the ‘Ego and the Id’ in 1923, which he considered his last contribution to psychoanalytic theory. After this, he reverted to the application of this psychoanalytic theory to cultural problems. His ‘Civilization and its discontent’ is a searching analysis of modern civilization and its besetting ills.

The theories of Freud have exerted a profound influence on 20th-century thought. His concepts exploring the subconscious region of the mind are now accepted as commonplace. His theory had a wide impact, influencing anthropology, education, art, literature, politics and history.