Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud, born Sigismund Schlomo Freud, was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies arising from conflicts in the psyche through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst. He was born on 6 May 1856 and died on 23 September 1939. In creating psychoanalysis he introduced therapeutic methods such as free association, the interpretation of dreams and the analysis of transference phenomena that arise in the clinical setting. His work also developed a wide-ranging interpretation and critique of religion and culture, and he is included here as a writer whose essays and case studies became part of the literary canon.