Who is Sigmund Freud biography. Biography of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund with youth was distinguished by exceptional abilities and keen interest in the latest achievements of science. He is mainly attracted by the natural sciences - in their strict laws he hopes to find the key to the secrets of nature and human existence. But his curiosity and breadth of interests do not allow him to limit himself to just one area of cognition. At the University, Sigmund is a member of the student union for the study of history, politics and philosophy, studying the works of Plato and Aristotle, as well as the texts of Eastern philosophers.
After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Vienna, Freud dreams of a career as a scientist, but he is forced to take care of “a piece of bread” and therefore becomes a practicing neurologist. He works in one of the Vienna psychiatric clinics under the leadership of the largest psychiatrist and neurologist of that time, T. Meinert. During this period, Freud wrote several articles about original methods for studying nervous tissue and they quickly gained fame in the scientific world. Subsequently, his observations played an important role in the creation of neural theory - the main tenet of modern neurology. In 1881, Freud received his degree in medicine.
One of the reasons that prompted Freud to care not only about his scientific interests, but also about his material well-being, was his upcoming marriage. In 1882, he became engaged to Martha Bernays. Caring for his family and relationships with loved ones have always been extremely important to him. Subsequently, the problem of relations between fathers and children, as well as the intricacies of desires and duty in family relationships become one of the main themes of his work.
That same year, an event occurred in Freud’s life that greatly influenced the further development of his views. By this time, Freud begins to feel the limitations of the physiotherapeutic treatment methods offered by neurologists. He becomes a student of Joseph Breuer, a successfully practicing doctor, who later became not only his teacher, but also a close friend. Breuer used light hypnosis to treat his patients and achieved quite good results. At the end of 1882, Freud became acquainted with the story of Anna O., Breuer's patient. This girl lost her father, after which she developed hysterical symptoms: paralysis of the limbs, impaired skin sensitivity, speech and vision disorders. In addition, she had a split personality. The transition from one personality to another was accompanied by self-hypnosis, accompanied by stories about her Everyday life. During one of these conditions, she spoke in detail about how she developed one of the symptoms. When she returned to her normal state, she suddenly discovered that this symptom had disappeared. This event prompted Breuer to create a new method of treatment, which he called cathartic: he immersed the patient in a hypnotic state and asked him to tell in full detail about all the events accompanying the appearance of the symptom.
Despite his success in treating Anna O., Breuer suddenly refuses to continue working with her and hastily leaves with his wife for Venice. The reason for this is the passionate feelings that suddenly awakened towards him in the patient. When he refuses further sessions, Anna experiences a severe hysterical crisis, symbolizing childbirth. It turned out that even during treatment with Breuer she developed an imaginary pregnancy, which for some reason was not noticed by the doctor. Breuer is shocked and confused, he cannot find an explanation for this incident.
Since ancient times, hysteria has been called a “deceiving disease.” Usually, doctors did not take hysterical patients seriously, considering them to be ordinary malingerers, skillfully parodying symptoms various diseases- paralysis, asthma, stomach diseases, etc. The case of Anna O. awakened Freud's deep interest in this disease.
In 1885, Freud learned about the unusual methods of treating mental illnesses by the French doctor Charcot, nicknamed by his contemporaries “the king of neuroses.” Most of this scientist's work is devoted to the study of hysteria. To study the nature of this disease and its treatment, Charcot, like Breuer, uses hypnosis. The French school of neuropathology had rich clinical material and extraordinary successes in the study of hypnosis and hysteria, but in Vienna these studies were met with rather skepticism. Therefore, Freud decides to go to Paris to personally undergo training with Charcot.
Before leaving for Paris, Freud's fiancée, Martha, finds him engaged in a strange activity: he burns his letters and papers in the stove. He explains to her that he wants to make it difficult for his biographers to work, since he has a pre-existing dislike for them. To her objection that he will not have any biographers, he confidently replies that great people always have biographers... This scene is described by Sartre in his film script “Freud”. When this script was written, Freud's personality had already become legendary, and psychoanalysis acquired the force of one of the new mythologies of the twentieth century. It is difficult to say with certainty whether this conversation actually took place, but there is no doubt that Freud believed in his special destiny and this belief gave him perseverance and determination during the most difficult periods of his life.
Acquaintance with the works of Charcot, the “Parisian period” turned out to be a turning point in his fate. Charcot paid great attention to the patient's fantasy world; he argued that the causes of hysteria lie in the psyche, and not in physiology. In one of his conversations with Freud, he notes that, in his opinion, the causes of a neurotic’s illness lie in the characteristics of his sex life. These ideas, compared with the observations of Freud himself, as well as with the memorable case of Anna O., lead him to think about the existence of a special sphere of the psyche, hidden from consciousness, but having a great influence on our lives. Moreover, this sphere consists mainly of sexual drives and desires, one way or another manifested during treatment.
Nya.
In 1886, Freud returned to Vienna and in October gave a report to the Medical Society “on hysteria in men.” Mainly, he sets out Charcot's ideas in it, seeing in them the possibility of solving the riddle of this disease. However, his message was received rather skeptically and was soon forgotten. Having experienced deep disappointment, Freud returned to neurology, while also practicing medicine. His works “Aphasia” (1891), “Project of Scientific Psychology” (1895), “On Infantile Brain Paralysis” (1897) were published.
Together with Breuer, Freud continued to study hysteria and its treatment using the cathartic method. In 1895, they published the book “Studies on Hysteria,” which for the first time talks about the relationship between the emergence of neurosis and unsatisfied drives and emotions repressed from consciousness. Freud is also interested in another state of the human psyche, similar to hypnotic - dreaming. In the same year, he discovers the basic formula for the secret of dreams: each of them is the fulfillment of a desire. This thought struck him so much that he even jokingly suggested nailing a memorial plaque in the place where it happened. Five years later, he outlined these ideas in his book The Interpretation of Dreams, which he consistently considered his best work.
Developing his ideas, Freud concludes that the main force that directs all human actions, thoughts and desires is libido energy, that is, the power of sexual desire. The human unconscious is filled with this energy and therefore it is in constant conflict with consciousness - the embodiment of moral norms and moral principles. Thus, he comes to a description of the hierarchical structure of the psyche, consisting of three “levels”: consciousness, preconscious and unconscious. The preconscious consists of those desires and thoughts that were conscious, but were repressed; they can be quite easily returned to the area of consciousness. The unconscious is made up of natural forces and instincts, the awareness of which is very difficult. In addition, Freud identifies three qualities of the psyche, three “ characters", present in each of us, between which there is constant confrontation. These characters are the Super-ego, the ego and the id. The first of them is the focus of moral norms and stereotypes dictated by society. It is a world of chaos, natural forces and attractions. The I that finds itself between them is forced to reconcile the demands of one and the other, also taking into account the conditions of the external world. Freud wrote: “The ego, driven by the id, constrained by the superego, repelled by reality,” is forced to make all its efforts to harmonize the relations between these three “masters.”
Freud's discoveries were received very coldly by puritanical Vienna. He himself wrote about this: “the attitude towards them was negative, imbued with a feeling of contempt, compassion, or superiority.” Scientifically accurate descriptions of the “back side” human soul, the games of instincts and unconscious elements gave the prim scientists the impression of something base and obscene. Freud's theory was accepted as a "joke" bad taste"(P. Janet). But Freud remains true to the truth of scientific facts, maintaining rigor and impartiality. He doesn't make any compromises
From 1896 to 1902, Freud found himself in complete isolation. Even his mentor Breuer turns away from him, not wanting to harm his career. He devotes his years of solitude to continuing his research and receives new confirmation of the truth of his views. The emptiness that reigned around him was met with great courage and calm; later he calls this period “a wonderful, heroic time.”
Despite the negative reaction of the intellectual elite, Freud's extraordinary ideas are gradually gaining acceptance among young doctors in Vienna. In 1902, students and like-minded people gathered around Freud and a psychoanalytic circle was formed. During this period, Freud wrote “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life” (1904), “Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious” (1905), “Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis” (1909). In 1907, he established contact with the school of psychiatrists in 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 brainchild, capable of leading the psychoanalytic community. In 1909, the two of them were invited to the USA to give lectures, where they performed with great success.
However, C. G. Jung is bold and independent in his judgments and he enters into an argument with his teacher. As a result of his own research and observations, Jung cannot agree that the main force driving the will and desires of all humanity is the energy of sexual desire, designated by Freud as libido. Jung also uses this term, but he understands by it an energy of a more general, global nature, a certain fundamental “life force” as such. A relationship that began with mutual admiration ends in litigation. At Freud's request, Jung was “excommunicated” from psychoanalysis and forced to name his method of psychotherapy differently: “analytical psychology.”
Freud is still surrounded by students, but in none of them does he see a worthy successor. He builds the theory of psychoanalysis on the model of natural science, with all its inherent rigor. That is why he demands from his students that they comply with these strict rules and follow clear principles and patterns. But the most talented students, one after another, leave him, creating their own directions. Despite all the blows of fate, Freud does not lose hope. He ends one of his books from this period of his life with the wish that “fate will grant an easy lift to all those who have become uncomfortable in the underworld of psychoanalysis, while the rest may be free to complete the work in its depths.”
Freud continues to work actively, psychoanalysis is becoming widely known throughout Europe, the USA, and Russia. In 1909 he gave lectures in the USA, and in 1910 the First International Congress on Psychoanalysis met in Nuremberg. In 1915-1917 he lectures in his homeland, at the University of Vienna. His new works are being published, where he continues his research into the secrets of the unconscious. Now his ideas go beyond just medicine and psychology, but also concern the laws of development of culture and society. Many young doctors come to study psychoanalysis directly with its founder.
Including S. Spielrein, L. Andreas-Salome, Nikolai Osipov, Moses Wulf from Russia. From 1910 to 1930 psychoanalysis was one of the most important components Russian culture. In 1914, Freud wrote: “In Russia, psychoanalysis is known and widespread; almost all my books, like those of other adherents of psychoanalysis, have been translated into Russian.” The Russian Psychoanalytic Society included such bright psychologists as N.E. Osipov, L.S. Vygotsky, A.R. Luria. However, from the mid-20s, some of them were forced to change the topic of their research, abandoning psychoanalysis, while others had to continue working outside their homeland. Further development of psychoanalysis in Russia became impossible. The fate of S. Spielrein eloquently testifies to this. Returning to Russia in 1923, full of romantic hopes, she tries to continue her psychoanalytic practice, but ends her life tragically, alone and in poverty...
In the early 20s, fate again subjected Freud to severe trials: he developed jaw cancer caused by an addiction to cigars. The alarming socio-political situation is giving rise to mass unrest and unrest. Freud, remaining faithful to the natural scientific tradition, increasingly turns to topics of mass psychology, the psychological structure of religious and ideological dogmas. Continuing to explore the abyss of the unconscious, he now comes to the conclusion that two equally strong principles govern a person: the desire for life (Eros) and the desire for death (Thanatos). The instinct of destruction, the forces of aggression and violence manifest themselves too clearly around us not to notice them.
In 1933, fascism came to power in Germany and Freud's books, along with many others that were not acceptable to the new authorities, were set on fire. To this Freud remarks: “What progress we have made! In the Middle Ages they would have burned me; nowadays they are content to burn my books.” After the capture of Austria by the Nazis, Freud finds himself in the hands of the Gestapo and only the Queen of England, by paying a ransom for his life, manages to save him from imminent death. Freud and his family emigrate to England, where they spend the rest of their days.
Today, Freud's personality has become legendary, and his works are unanimously recognized as a new milestone in world culture. Philosophers and writers, artists and directors show interest in the discoveries of psychoanalysis. During Freud’s lifetime, Stefan Zweig’s book “Healing and Psyche” was published. One of its chapters is devoted to the “father of psychoanalysis”, his role in the final revolution in ideas about medicine and the nature of diseases. After the Second World War in the USA, psychoanalysis became a “second religion” and outstanding masters of American cinema paid tribute to it: Vincent Minnelli, Elia Kazan, Nicholas Ray, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin. One of the greatest French philosophers, Jean Paul Sartre, writes a script about the life of Freud, and a little later, Hollywood director John Huston makes a film based on it... Today it is impossible to name any major writer or scientist, philosopher or director of the twentieth century who has not experienced would be directly or indirectly influenced by psychoanalysis. Thus, the promise of the young Viennese doctor, which he gave to his future wife Martha, came true - he truly became a great man.
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
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, during 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 I later spent 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; 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 most unconscious motives - possible reasons 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.
Sigmund Freud was born in the small town of Freiberg, which at that time was under the control of Austria. His parents come from Jewish roots. His father, Jacob Freud, was involved in the textile industry, his mother, Amalia Nathanson, was directly involved in the family business. Amalia, who was half Jacob's age, became his second wife. In his first marriage, Freud Sr. had two boys - Sigmund's paternal half-brothers - Emmanuel and Philip. It was the latter that the boy really missed when, due to the failure of his father’s small business, he and his family had to leave hometown first to Leipzig, and then to Vienna, where they settled for many years. Having settled in a poor area inhabited by not the most decent citizens, the Freud family experienced many difficulties. However, soon, the father’s affairs began to improve, and the family moved to a more or less decent neighborhood. Around this time, Sigmund Freud discovered literature - the boy simply fell in love with reading.
Education
Initially, his mother and father were involved in his son’s education, which, coupled with the boy’s good abilities, gave the result - Sigmund was enrolled in a specialized gymnasium a year earlier than the required age - at nine years old. The parents, especially the father, had great hopes for the boy, and at the same time tried in every possible way to create the necessary conditions for his development. This position turned out to be effective - at the age of 17, young Sigmund Freud brought home his graduation diploma. educational institution Honours. Freud's next place of study was the University of Vienna, where he entered the medical faculty in 1873. However, before deciding on his specialization, Freud spent more than one hour in thought, now and then, weighing the pros and cons of such areas as law, industry and commerce.
The decisive moment was listening to Goethe’s lecture - it was then that Freud finally decided on his field of activity. However, the always interested and incredibly active guy learned about medicine without much passion. While studying anatomy, chemistry and other specialized sciences, Freud received the greatest pleasure from listening to lectures by the famous physiologist and psychologist Ernst von Brücke. Attending the classes of the equally famous zoologist Karl Klaus also opened up good prospects for the guy. Working under the guidance of Klaus, Freud wrote several serious scientific works, carried out the first research work at the Institute of Zoological Research in Trieste and became a scholarship holder twice (1875 and 1876) from the same institution.
Freud planned to continue his academic work, however, a lack of funds forced the great scientist to move from theory to practice. So he worked for several years under the supervision of leading therapists, and after that he even applied to open a personal neuropathology office. In 1885, after studying documents and evidence, as well as Freud's recommendations, he was given the green light.
Freud and cocaine
In Freud's biography, already controversial, there is a separate point that, until a certain point, they even tried to hide. Such a point is the study of cocaine, and not even the study itself, but the scientist’s incredible passion for it, as well as the regular introduction of friends and acquaintances to taking this drug.
In 1884, after reading the work of a military doctor about the use of the innovative drug cocaine, Freud decided to conduct the experiment directly on himself. Increased endurance, decreased fatigue - the facts stated by the German tester were fully experienced by Freud. He was so impressed by the effect that literally in the same year he released a work praising its incredible properties, it was simply called “About Coke.” In addition to the fact that Freud himself became addicted to a harmful substance, he unconditionally recommended it to everyone - both acquaintances and complete strangers, through the release of new scientific works.
The scientist was not embarrassed by the fact that news about the terrible consequences of taking cocaine came more and more often - he continued to study the drug as an anesthetic. Freud wrote a huge scientific work on this topic, published in the Central Journal of General Therapy, and later even gave a lecture in which he openly called for the use of cocaine for subcutaneous injections. Freud’s “cocaine epic” continued until 1887 – it was then that the myth about its healing properties was destroyed once and for all and its harmfulness was recognized. So, trying to create a breakthrough in medicine, Freud, without realizing it, not only became addicted to drugs, but also “addicted” a huge number of people to the drug.
Freud and psychoanalysis
In 18885, Freud got an internship with one of the most influential and respected professors of psychiatry, Jean Charcot. The opportunity to observe the work of an outstanding doctor allowed Freud to master hypnosis, with the help of which he learned to alleviate many diseases diagnosed in patients. Gradually developing and comprehending all the intricacies of science, Freud began to use the “Method of Free Associations” - a method in which the patient is not put into hypnosis, but, on the contrary, is given the opportunity to speak out. This helped the patient to ease his mind, and the doctor, in turn, to create a certain picture from individual phrases, words and gestures. Soon Freud abandoned hypnosis altogether, preferring treatment in pure consciousness. According to Freud, the causes of psychosis in any of its manifestations are hidden in human memories, and his theory, which states that most psychoses are based on the Oedipus complex and infantile childhood sexuality, has caused a lot of controversy and controversy. Some unconditionally saw the truth in the scientist’s judgments, others said that Freud himself was a victim of psychosis.
Freud devoted about two years (1897-1899) to his largest and most important work, the book “The Interpretation of Dreams.” However, the publication of such an important book for the scientist was not marked by either a sensation or interest in professional circles. The book aroused absolutely no interest. Subsequently, the significance of the work was nevertheless recognized by leading psychoanalysts and psychiatrists, and Freud himself was repeatedly invited as a lecturer at the best universities in the USA and Germany.
Freud's success was overshadowed by a split in the ranks of students and followers of his teaching. Thus, having lost what he thought were the closest people and associates from his circle due to disagreements, Freud decided to keep around only those who absolutely and unconditionally agreed with his theory.
Personal life
The wife of the great scientist was a girl who also had Jewish roots - Martha Bernays. Having met his future wife in 1882, and communicating most often through letters, the couple got married a few years later. The Freud couple had six children in their marriage, and after the birth of their youngest daughter, Anna, Freud completely renounced sex life. By the way, Anna, who was her father’s favorite, was the only one who continued his work - she founded the foundation of child psychoanalysis and a huge amount of work in this direction.
Anna was next to her father until the last - right up to the very moment when the deadly drug morphine was injected into the vein of the great scientist. Sigmund Freud, who was diagnosed with cancer, after a lot of unsuccessful treatment attempts, asked his friend, Dr. Max Schur, to help him die. The daughter, who was initially opposed to her father’s decision, seeing his constant torment, nevertheless gave the go-ahead. So. The scientist died on September 23, 1939, closer to three o'clock in the morning.
Dr. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist who immortalized his name with the discovery of psychoanalysis.
On January 8, 1900, Dr. Sigmund Freud melancholy noted in a letter to his friend, the famous ear, nose and throat doctor Wilhelm Fliess: “This new Age is especially interesting to us because it contains the date of our death.”
The key to hysteria.
In a few months, Freud will turn 44 years old. He will live another 39 years in the new twentieth century. The last 16 - along with the disease, which, in the end (despite his resilience and the efforts of the best doctors), will bring him to the grave.
Well, for now everything is going more or less successfully: the advent of a new century is marked by the release of new job"The Interpretation of Dreams", in which the area of the irrational is subjected to careful rational analysis. He proceeds from the fact that it is in dreams that the rudiments of the entire psychology of neuroses are contained. Therein lies the key to understanding hysteria.
All together makes it possible to trace the “work of sleep”, to penetrate into the world of the secret, unsteady, speaking to everyone in the language of the unconscious. It gives meaning to dreams, translates the language of dreams into the language of thought. There is reason to celebrate the victory!
In 1885, Freud interned with the famous Dr. Charcot, whom he simply revered. Charcot lectures and practices in the clinic of nervous diseases, where he deals mainly with patients with hysteria. Treats with hypnosis.
It was there, in Paris, that Freud felt his way to what would later be called “psychoanalysis”, which would glorify his name.
“In a number of cases, falling in love is nothing more than a psychic capture by an object, dictated by sexual primary urges for the purpose of direct sexual satisfaction and, with the achievement of this goal, fading away; this is what is called base, sensual love. But, as we know, the libidinal situation rarely remains so uncomplicated. Confidence in a new awakening of a need that had just died out was probably the immediate motive why the capture of a sexual object turned out to be long-lasting and it was “loved” even during those periods of time when there was no desire.” Sigmund Freud.
But as a harmonious and logical system, psychoanalysis took shape on a dark autumn night in 1895, when, in a state close to mild insanity, Freud suddenly felt that all the barriers were moving apart and the curtains were falling. In a letter to Fliess, he writes: “Everything fell into place, all the gears came into gear, and it seemed as if in front of me was a machine that functioned clearly and independently. Three systems of neurons, “free” and “bound” states, primary and secondary processes, basic tendency nervous system to achieve compromises, two biological laws - attention and protection, the concept of quality, the reality of thought, inhibition caused by sexual reasons, and, finally, the factors on which both conscious and unconscious life depend - all this has come to its interconnection and still continues to gain connectedness. Naturally, I am overjoyed!”
But he feels joy not only about this. He understands well that if Martha had not been there, everything would have turned out differently. After nine years life together, which was preceded by a four-year engagement, he could argue that she was more than a wife. Martha was his guardian angel.
Wife of a genius.
She came from the famous Jewish Bernay family, famous for its cultural traditions. He fell in love with her as soon as he saw her, but circumstances prevented their union.
At that time, he was still poor, success came slowly, and he could not take on the responsibility of starting a family. Over the course of several years of engagement, they went through ardor, impatience, and jealousy, but only in the fall of 1886, in the decorous, solemn atmosphere of the Wandsbeck town hall, they were officially named husband and wife.
She will bring him three sons and three daughters. Both the children and the house will depend entirely on Martha, who will take care of all household chores so that he can calmly do his work. She will share with him both his finest hours and the dark days of melancholy, all the ups and downs.
“It is human nature to value and desire above all else what he cannot achieve.” Sigmund Freud.
She will not pay attention to the rumors spread by his student Carl Jung about not only her husband’s friendly relations with her sister Minna, who settled in their house after the death of her fiancé. She will try not to notice his “strange” relationship with Wilhelm Fliess, which lasted for more than one year.
It is to him, Fliess, that Freud writes how impatiently he awaits the next meeting, because his life is sad, and only a meeting with him can make him feel better.
During one of these meetings, he faints, which turns out to be an occasion to declare that the cause of the fainting is some kind of uncontrollable homosexual feeling. Martha will also survive her husband’s cooling off towards sex (at the age of 40), which occurred after the birth of their last and most beloved child - daughter Anna. Martha will turn a blind eye to everything in order to save her family, her home...
Illness and self-control.
At the turn of the 1890s, the first serious illnesses began to fall on him. The Lord endowed him with willpower and clarity of spirit, his parents endowed him with vitality, but sooner or later every person begins to experience health problems. There are no exceptions to this rule.
For quite a long time, Dr. Freud has been plagued by attacks of tachycardia with severe arrhythmia, recurring with enviable frequency, and severe chest pain radiating to the left arm. More and more often he experiences shortness of breath.
“Patients are nothing more than the dregs of society. The only benefit they can bring is to help us earn a living and provide material for us to study. We can't help them anyway." Sigmund Freud.
Being an avid, incorrigible smoker, he cannot live even an hour without a cigarette, and then a cigar. And even with a strong will, he is not able to give up tobacco.
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Sigmund Freud.
Already at the age of 72, answering a questionnaire sent to many famous people(the questions related to tobacco addiction), Freud writes: “I began to smoke at the age of 24, first cigarettes, and soon exclusively cigars; I still smoke today... and I think with horror about giving up this pleasure... I remain faithful to this habit or this vice and believe that I owe the cigar my high ability to work and better self-control.”
Summarizing.
As for self-control, the great scientist has it at its best. In April 1923, he discovered a tumor on the inside of the jaw, to the right of the palate, which was growing larger every day.
He gathers his will into a fist and courageously resists the disease. Barely over 70, his name is known throughout the world; several years ago he was included in the list of Jewish philosophers - Philo, Maimonides, Spinoza, Freud, Einstein - honored by the University of London and the Jewish Historical Society with a series of special reports.
He has written fundamental scientific works, he has a school and students. It would seem that we could stop and take stock. But if cancer means to him physical death, then refusal to work and creativity is intellectual and spiritual death.
“Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanity.” Sigmund Freud.
And he continues to work furiously, overcoming constant pain. In creativity, he draws strength to resist this vile monster that has settled in his larynx.
In 1927, the book “The Future of an Illusion” was published, in which he examines the origin of religious ideas from the perspective of psychoanalysis. In 1930, “Cultural Discontent” appeared, in which dissatisfaction modern man culture and civilization is associated with the excessive redundancy of prohibitions imposed on him by society.
Exodus.
Meanwhile, in Germany, neighboring Germany, the Nazis who came to power continue to rule the roost. They persecute all those whose views do not coincide with the views of their Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.
In May 1938, a demonstration execution was held on one of the Berlin squares - books were thrown into a giant bonfire. Some - because they were written by Jews, others - because not by Jews, but by anti-fascists. Dr. Sigmund Freud is both.
The auto-da-fé is repeated in Frankfurt, where he was awarded the Goethe Prize just three years ago. Furnaces are lit in concentration camps, into whose furnaces they no longer throw books, but people.
On March 11, 1938, the Nazis occupy Vienna. Exactly four days after the Anschluss, a group of security officials breaks into Sigmund Freud's apartment. But this is only the beginning: a week later the Gestapo comes and takes away his beloved daughter Anna. She, however, is released in the evening of the same day, but this visit overwhelms his patience.
Freud decides to leave the country, but the new regime puts all sorts of obstacles in his way. The American Ambassador Bullitt helps us leave. Powerful and influential support comes from all sides, and the Nazis yield to the pressure.
In July 1938 he arrives in London, comparing it to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. He still has time to publish the book “Moses and Monotheism”, he even begins a work that should be called “A Short Course in Psychoanalysis”, but he will not be able to finish it.
...He burned down in front of his loved ones in just a few months. A new tumor that appeared near the eye socket at the beginning of 1939 was inoperable...
Dr. Sigmund Freud understood perfectly well that doctors were powerless - it was pointless to continue the cruel torture. On September 21, while in a London clinic, he reminded his personal doctor Shura, who moved with him to England, about a conversation that took place between them many years ago, when the illness was just beginning: “You promised not to leave me when my time comes.”
Max Schur, reluctantly, kept his promise: the first subcutaneous injection of a dose of morphine was followed by another. This continued every 12 hours for two days.
On September 23, 1939, Dr. Sigmund Freud, who immortalized his name with the discovery of psychoanalysis, fell into a coma from which he was never destined to emerge.
“I believe in bearded men and long-haired women...” Sigmund Freud.