Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939)

John K. Grandy

Sigmund Freud, born in Freiberg, Moravia, on May 6, 1856, and now known as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, was a physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist, and the father of psychoanalysis. He postulated that many neuroses (mostly phobias, hysteria, chronic pain, and sometimes forms of paranoia) had origins in past traumatic experiences that were forgotten or hidden in the unconsciousness. Discoveries such as this made Freud one of the most provocative thinkers of his time. Although Freud was an extremely influential thinker, his pioneering thoughts were set in motion by the works of other influential thinkers that preceded him. Two in particular are Charles Darwin, a naturalist, and Freud's early mentor Ernst Brucke, under whom Freud studied physiology while enrolled in medical school at the University of Vienna. Darwin revolutionized the conception of mankind when he published The Origin of Species in 1859. Up to that evolution ...

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