Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist (a person who treats sicknesses of the nervous system) and famous psychologist. Many people call him "the father of psychoanalysis."

He was born as Sigismund Schlomo Freud, but in 1877 at the age of 21 he changed his name to Sigmund Freud.

Freud is important in psychology because he was the first person to study the unconscious scientifically. The unconscious is a part of a person's mind which he does not know is thinking, and he cannot control it easily. Many people did not like this idea, and many people did not like Freud because he said people had hidden thoughts that they didn't know about.

After Freud wrote his first book, he got married to Martha Bernays. They had six children, and the youngest (Anna Freud) became another famous psychologist.

Freud thought sex was the most important need for human beings after staying alive. He called this need the libido. He thought that sometimes people would do something they did not really want to do because the libido made them do it.

Freud lived in Germany in the 1930s. Because he was Jewish, Hitler did not like him. He made people burn Freud's books in public. Some of the Nazis wanted to hurt Freud. Because Freud and his family did not feel safe anymore, they left Vienna and went to England in June 1938.

Other websites

• Freud Museum in London
• Freud's Life and Work
• http://www.pribor.cz City of birthplace Sigmund Freud
• http://freud.pribor.cz