Sigmund Freud Timeline
A chronology of the key events in the life of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
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1856, May 6
Born Sigismund Schlomo Freud, Freiberg, Moravia
1886 copy of Freud’s birth certificate. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1860
Moved with family to Vienna, Austria
Photograph of the Freyung, Vienna, Austria, between 1860 and 1890. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. LC-USZ62-103409 -
1873
Graduated summa cum laude, Leopoldstädter Kommunal-Real-und Obergymansium, Vienna, Austria
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1875
Changed first name to Sigmund
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1876-1882
Conducted research on the nervous system at Ernst Brücke's Institute of Physiology, Vienna, Austria
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1879-1880
Fulfilled compulsory military service
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1881
Doctor of medicine, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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1882
Clinical assistant in Hermann Nothnagel's Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria
Met and became engaged to Martha Bernays
[Letter from Freud to Martha Bernays, 15 June 1882], written at the beginning of their courtship on his father’s stationery. He addresses her in English: “My sweet darling girl.” -
1883
Worked in Theodor Meynert's psychiatric clinic, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria
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1884
Joined Department of Nervous Diseases, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria
Began studying the effects and potential medical uses of cocaine
“Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Cocawirkung” [“Contribution to the Knowledge of Cocaine”], 1885, inscribed by Freud to Josef Breuer. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1885
Appointed lecturer in neuropathology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Received grant to study neuropathology with Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris, France
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1886
Established private practice, Vienna, Austria
Married Martha Bernays
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1887
Began corresponding with Wilhelm Fliess
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1889
Traveled to Nancy, France, to study Hippolyte Bernheim's hypnotic techniques
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1891
Established residence and office at Bergasse 19, Vienna, Austria, where he would remain until 1938
Announcement of new address, 1891. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1892
Treated "Elizabeth von R." (Ilona Weiss) in what Freud described as his first full length analysis of hysteria
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1895
Published with Josef Breuer Studien über Hysterie [Studies in Hysteria] (Leipzig: F. Deuticke. 269 pp.)
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1896
First used the term "psychoanalysis"
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1897
Began self-analysis
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1899-1900
Published Die Traumdeutung [The Interpretation of Dreams] (Leipzig: F. Deuticke. 371 pp.)
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1901
Published Zur Psychopathologie des Alltagslebens [Psychology of Everyday Life] (Berlin: S. Karger. 80 pp.)
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1902
Founded the Psychologische Mittwoch-Gesellschaft (renamed the Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung in 1908)
Appointed Professor Extraordinarius, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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1905
Published "Bruchstück einer Hysterie-Analyse" ("Dora" case study), Monatsschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologie, 18:285-310
Published Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewussten [Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious] (Vienna: F. Deuticke. 205 pp.)
Published Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie [Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory] (Leipzig: F. Deuticke. 83 pp.)
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1908
First International Congress of Psychoanalysis, Salzburg, Austria
Formal group portrait at the third international congress, Weimar, Germany, 1911. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1909
Lectured on psychoanalysis at Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Published "Analyse der Phobie eines fünfjährigen Knaben" ("Little Hans" case study), Jahrbuch für psychoanalytische und psychopathologische Forschungen, 1:1-109
Published "Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose" ("Rat Man" case study), Jahrbuch für psychoanalytische und psychopathologische Forschungen, 1:357-421
Postcard sent by Freud to his family, 21 August 1909, depicting the George Washington. Freud sailed on the steamship ocean liner to the United States where he delivered a series of lectures at Clark University. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1910
Published über Psychoanalyse [The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis] (Vienna: F. Deuticke. 62 pp.)
Founding of the International Psychoanalytical Association
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1912
Establishment of the "Committee," a group composed of Freud's closest associates including Karl Abraham, Sándor Ferenczi, Ernest Jones, Otto Rank, and Hanns Sachs who consulted regularly on issues relating to Freud and the psychoanalytic movement
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1913
Published Totem und Tabu: einige übereinstimmungen im Seeleben der Wilden und der Neurotiker [Totem and Taboo] (Leipzig: H. Heller. 149 pp.)
Notes on totemism, 1913. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1918
Published "Aus der Geschichte einer infantilen Neurose" ("Wolf-Man"case study), Sammlung kleiner Schriften zur Neurosenlehre IV (Vienna: F. Deuticke. 139 pp.)
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1920
Published Jenseits des Lustprinzips [Beyond the Pleasure Principle] (Vienna: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag. 60 pp.)
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1923
Diagnosed with cancer of the jaw and palate
Published Das Ich und das Es [The Ego and the Id] (Vienna: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag. 77 pp.)
First page of a draft of Das Ich und das Es. The diagonal lines crossing out passages were made by Freud to mark his progress in producing a fair copy from the draft. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1930
Awarded the Goethe Prize by the city of Frankfurt, Germany
Published Das Unbehagen in der Kultur [Civilization and Its Discontents] (Vienna: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag. 136 pp.)
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1931
Bronze plaque erected by the city of Příbor, Czechoslovakia (formerly Freiberg, Moravia) at Freud's birthplace
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1933
Published with Albert Einstein Warum Krieg? [Why War?] (Paris: International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation. 61 pp.)
Public burning of books by the Nazis on May 10 in Berlin, Germany; included were books by Freud.
On May 11, 1933, in his “Kürzeste Chronik” [“Short Chronicle”], Freud notes the burning of his books in Berlin. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1938
Left Vienna, Austria, and settled in London, England
Statement read over the British Broadcasting Corporation radio, 7 December 1938. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1939
Published Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion [Moses and Monotheism] (Amsterdam: A. de Lange. 241 pp.)
Unpublished ink sketch of Michelangelo’s Moses from an earlier work on Moses, “Der Moses des Michelangelo,” 1914. Freud chose a different sketch for the printed version. Sigmund Freud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. -
1939, Sept. 23
Died, London, England