Sigmund Freud Timeline

(May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939)

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. He developed groundbreaking theories about the unconscious mind, dream interpretation, infantile sexuality, and the structure of personality (id, ego, and superego). His work profoundly shaped modern psychology, psychiatry, and Western intellectual thought. More Less

Go to: Timeline | Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Early Life and Education

Sigmund Freud is born in Freiberg, Moravia

May 6, 1856

Sigismund Schlomo Freud was born in Freiberg, Moravia (now Příbor, Czech Republic), to Jewish parents Jacob and Amalia Freud. He would later shorten his name to Sigmund, and his birth marked the beginning of one of the most influential intellectual figures of the 20th century.

Image source: Sigmund Freud

Freud family moves to Vienna

1859 - 1860

Facing economic hardship after a failed business venture, Jacob Freud moved his family to Leipzig and then to Vienna in 1860. Freud would live in Vienna for nearly the rest of his life, and the city would become the cradle of psychoanalysis.

Freud graduates with honors from Gymnasium

1873

Freud excelled at the Leopoldstädter Communal-Gymnasium, graduating summa cum laude at age 17. His academic brilliance allowed him to enter the University of Vienna, where he initially studied law before turning to medicine.

Freud studies under Ernst Brücke in Vienna

1876 - 1882

Freud worked in the physiology laboratory of Ernst Brücke at the University of Vienna, conducting research on the nervous system. This rigorous training in scientific materialism profoundly shaped his later theoretical approach to psychology.

Image source: Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke

Freud earns medical degree from University of Vienna

Mar 1881

After years of laboratory research, Freud finally completed his medical doctorate at the University of Vienna. He then took up clinical work to support himself and his fiancée Martha Bernays, whom he married in 1886.

Freud marries Martha Bernays

Sep 14, 1886

Freud married Martha Bernays after a four-year engagement. The couple went on to have six children, including daughter Anna Freud, who would become a prominent psychoanalyst in her own right.

Image source: Martha Bernays

Career and Major Works

Freud studies with Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris

Oct 1885 - Feb 1886

Freud won a travel fellowship to study under the famous neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. Charcot's use of hypnosis to treat hysteria inspired Freud's shift from neurology toward psychopathology.

Image source: Jean-Martin Charcot

Freud opens private practice in Vienna

Apr 1886

Freud established a private practice specializing in nervous disorders in Vienna. Working with patients suffering from hysteria led him to develop innovative talking-based treatments that would evolve into psychoanalysis.

Freud publishes 'Studies on Hysteria' with Josef Breuer

1895

Freud and Josef Breuer published 'Studies on Hysteria,' introducing the 'talking cure' and the case of Anna O. This work laid the foundation for psychoanalysis, though the two men soon parted ways over disagreements about the role of sexuality in neurosis.

Image source: Studies on Hysteria

Freud publishes 'The Interpretation of Dreams'

Nov 4, 1899

Freud published his masterpiece 'The Interpretation of Dreams,' dated 1900 by the publisher. In it he argued that dreams are the 'royal road to the unconscious,' revealing wish fulfillment through symbolic content. Initially selling poorly, it became his most celebrated work.

Image source: The Interpretation of Dreams

Freud publishes 'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life'

1901

In this popular book, Freud explored slips of the tongue, forgetting, and everyday errors as manifestations of unconscious motivations. The concept of the 'Freudian slip' entered common usage and brought psychoanalysis wider public attention.

Image source: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life

Freud publishes 'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life'

First meeting of the Wednesday Psychological Society

1902

Freud invited colleagues including Alfred Adler and Wilhelm Stekel to meet weekly at his home for discussions of psychology. These gatherings evolved into the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, forming the first organized psychoanalytic community.

C.G. Jung joins Freud's inner circle

1907 - 1913

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung began corresponding with Freud in 1906 and met him in person in 1907. Freud saw Jung as his intellectual heir, but their intense relationship ended in a bitter split in 1913 over theoretical differences, particularly on the nature of libido.

First International Psychoanalytical Congress held in Salzburg

Apr 27, 1908

The first international congress of psychoanalysts convened in Salzburg, marking the emergence of psychoanalysis as an international movement. Attendees included Freud, Jung, Ernest Jones, and other early followers.

Image source: International Psychoanalytical Association

Freud delivers Clark University lectures in the United States

Sep 1909

Invited by psychologist G. Stanley Hall, Freud lectured at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, alongside Jung. These five lectures introduced psychoanalysis to an American audience and significantly boosted Freud's international reputation.

Image source: Clark University

International Psychoanalytical Association founded

Mar 1910

At the second psychoanalytic congress in Nuremberg, the International Psychoanalytical Association was founded, with Jung as its first president. The IPA formalized the movement's organization, training standards, and international reach.

Split between Freud and Alfred Adler

1911

Alfred Adler broke with Freud over disagreements about the primacy of sexual drives, emphasizing instead feelings of inferiority and social factors. Adler's departure marked the first major schism in the psychoanalytic movement.

Image source: Alfred Adler

Final break between Freud and Carl Jung

1913

The increasingly strained relationship between Freud and Jung collapsed as Jung rejected Freud's emphasis on infantile sexuality and developed his own analytic psychology. Freud resigned as editor of their shared journal, ending their personal correspondence permanently.

Image source: Carl Jung

Psychoanalytic Theory

Freud begins intensive self-analysis

1897 - 1899

Following the death of his father Jacob in October 1896, Freud undertook a rigorous self-analysis, examining his own dreams and childhood memories. This introspective work generated many of the core concepts of psychoanalysis, including the Oedipus complex.

Freud publishes 'Totem and Taboo'

1913

Freud applied psychoanalytic ideas to anthropology, speculating about the origins of religion, taboo, and society through a hypothetical primal horde narrative. Though controversial among anthropologists, it demonstrated Freud's ambition to extend psychoanalysis into culture at large.

Image source: Totem and Taboo

Freud introduces structural model: id, ego, and superego

1923

In 'The Ego and the Id,' Freud revised his topographical model of the mind, proposing the structural framework of id, ego, and superego. This tripartite model became one of the most enduring and widely recognized elements of psychoanalytic theory.

Freud publishes 'Civilization and Its Discontents'

1930

Freud examined the inherent tension between individual desires and the demands of civilization, arguing that culture requires instinctual renunciation and produces pervasive discontent. It remains one of his most widely read cultural works.

Image source: Civilization and Its Discontents

Freud publishes final major work 'Moses and Monotheism'

1939

Published just months before his death, 'Moses and Monotheism' controversially argued that Moses was Egyptian and that Judaism originated from the murder of a father figure. Despite hesitations, Freud insisted on publishing it even after fleeing Austria.

Image source: Moses and Monotheism

Later Life and Legacy

Freud diagnosed with jaw cancer

1923

A persistent growth in Freud's mouth was diagnosed as cancer, likely related to his heavy cigar smoking. Over the following sixteen years, he underwent more than thirty operations and wore a cumbersome prosthesis, yet continued working almost until his death.

Death of Freud's grandson Heinerle

Jun 1923

The death of Freud's beloved young grandson Heinerle from tuberculosis deeply affected him, intensifying his pessimism about life. Some biographers link this loss to his subsequent development of the death drive theory.

Freud receives Goethe Prize from Frankfurt

Aug 28, 1930

The city of Frankfurt awarded Freud the prestigious Goethe Prize for literature, honoring his contributions to German letters and thought. His acceptance speech acknowledged the ambivalence of receiving such an honor amid growing antisemitism.

Nazi annexation of Austria (Anschluss)

Mar 12, 1938

German troops annexed Austria, placing Freud, who was Jewish, in grave danger. Nazi authorities raided his home and harassed him, but Freud refused to leave until international pressure secured safe passage for him and his family.

Image source: Anschluss

Freud flees Vienna and settles in London

Jun 4, 1938 - Sep 1938

With help from friends including Marie Bonaparte, Freud escaped Nazi Austria and emigrated to London, settling at 20 Maresfield Gardens. Four of his sisters remained behind and later perished in Nazi concentration camps.

Freud elected Honorary Foreign Member of Royal Society of Medicine

Jul 17, 1938

Shortly after arriving in London, Freud received honors from British institutions, being elected an honorary member of the Royal Society of Medicine. The recognition affirmed his stature even as his health deteriorated rapidly.

Image source: Royal Society of Medicine

Anna Freud continues his legacy in child psychoanalysis

Sep 23, 1939 - Oct 1982

After her father's death, Anna Freud carried forward the psychoanalytic tradition, pioneering ego psychology and child analysis in London. Her work ensured the continuation and evolution of Freudian theory throughout the 20th century.

Image source: Anna Freud

Key Facts

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia (now Příbor, Czech Republic), and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria.
In 1900, Freud published 'The Interpretation of Dreams,' considered one of his most important works and the foundation of psychoanalytic theory.
Freud introduced the concept of the unconscious mind and proposed that repressed desires and childhood experiences shape human behavior.
He developed the structural model of personality, dividing the psyche into the id, ego, and superego.
After fleeing Nazi-annexed Austria in 1938, Freud settled in London, where he died of jaw cancer on September 23, 1939.

Source

This Sigmund Freud timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

We work hard to keep these timelines accurate, but mistakes do get through. If you spot one, email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for future visitors.

Create a timeline like this one for free

Generate yours with AI, or build it from scratch.

Try It for Free