Freud

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Born in Freiberg, Moravia (now Příbor, Czech Republic), he moved to Vienna at a young age, where he spent most of his professional life. Freud developed theories of the unconscious mind, the structure of personality, and methods for exploring internal conflicts that influence behavior.

His central ideas include the unconscious as a reservoir of thoughts outside awareness, the structural model of the psyche (id, ego, superego), and psychosexual development comprising stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. He emphasized defense mechanisms, dream interpretation, and free association as clinical tools and introduced the method sometimes called the talking cure. Key works include The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901), and Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905).

Freud's work stimulated a lasting movement in psychiatry, psychology, and the humanities, influencing clinical practice, literary criticism, and art. He founded the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1908 and helped establish international psychoanalytic organizations. His theories, however, have been criticized for limited empirical support, overemphasis on sexuality, and gender bias, and have been revised by later schools of thought, sometimes diverging from his original ideas.