7 little-known facts about Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud left not only a legacy that influenced many areas of human activity, but also a lot of speculation related to his personality and his discoveries.

He was a pioneer, not afraid to look into the dark backyards of human consciousness and expose hidden fears and desires. However, by his qualities and way of life, Freud can disappoint the seekers of his own weaknesses and vices. Here are some facts from his biography.

1. Dreamed of becoming a hero

As Ernest Jones writes in The Life and Works of Sigmund Freud, Freud from childhood identified himself with the brave generals Hannibal and Cromwell. Once, an old peasant woman predicted glory to him, telling his mother that she had given life to a great man. He heard similar predictions more than once later. And although Freud himself recalled the prophecies with skepticism, he always had faith in his higher destiny, to which he aspired from an early age.

Faith endowed him with the necessary determination and perseverance, helping to overcome the long years of scientific oblivion, loneliness and search, rewarding him with the predicted and rightfully deserved greatness. But, even having reached the pinnacle of fame, he did not change his moral principles until his death, remaining a sensitive, vulnerable and self-critical person. He always placed the scientific idea above personal ambition.

2. Grew up in a religious environment

Freud considered himself a convinced atheist, which is often cited as an argument for his godlessness and depravity, supposedly explaining his craving for primitive sexual theories. But it is important to remember that atheism was a forced form of confrontation between medicine and science of that era and a religion that rejected scientific explanations and progress.

Freud grew up in a religious environment and was very sensitive to his roots, culture and traditions. In his revelations, Freud admitted that he often had internal dialogues with God and complained that if he were as religious as his brothers, he could more easily endure adversity and illness. The so-called atheism of Freud is full of sentimentality and sadness, inspired by a sense of loneliness and awareness of the unfortunate existence of man. To understand what he came, including through introspection.

3. Tested my theory on myself

Freud treated teachers and colleagues with respect. Communication created the conditions for one’s own reflections, in which the first ideas of psychoanalysis were born. But none of those who at least somehow inspired Freud to study the human subconscious, personally failed or did not want to systematize their observations, devote their activities to a serious and thorough study of this topic.

Freud not only managed to painstakingly put together and put into practice the concept of psychoanalysis, he was also the first and only scientist who subjected himself to an honest and self-incriminating psychoanalysis. None of his critics, who built their theories, starting, in particular, from his teachings, dared to take such a step.

4. Clarity of mind valued more than life

Freud suffered from a malignant tumor of the jaw and during the last 16 years of his life he underwent more than 30 painful operations. As he admitted, it was extremely difficult for him to lose the opportunity to fully practice and work. Thoughts of suicide were not uncommon, but the support of loved ones and willpower made him continue to live and fight.

Despite years of debilitating physical suffering, he continued to refuse to take painkillers for the same reason – to maintain clarity of mind. And only in the later stages of the disease, being already completely exhausted, he resorted to the help of his attending physician, who gave him a lethal dose of morphine. In fact, it was euthanasia, which Freud deliberately went for.

5. Forgive the stolen glory

Freud had high hopes for cocaine as a possible drug to relieve fatigue and combat depression. But from the experience of close friends, he was convinced that cocaine is very dangerous.

Thanks to experiments, including on himself, he was the first to discover and describe the previously unknown properties of cocaine as an anesthetic drug. Later, cocaine really began to be used in ophthalmology, in local anesthesia of the eye.

One of his young colleagues took advantage of his discovery and passed it off as his own. Freud resigned himself to someone else’s fame, considering that he needed it more, and did not break with his colleague. Freud knew how to forgive, believing that benevolence and personal decency are above quarrels and insults.

6. Salvation from Nazism received from the hands of … a Nazi

In 1938, after the annexation of Austria to Germany and the ensuing persecution of Jews by the Nazis, Freud’s position became much more complicated. His loyal students advised him to leave Nazi-occupied Vienna, but he considered it cowardice. Only the arrest of Anna’s daughter made him change his mind and agree to the support of influential people.

American President Roosevelt, British diplomats stood up for his life, and, they say, even Stalin did not stand aside. The decision depended on only one person – Adolf Hitler. Freud was persuaded to let him go by a long-time admirer of the works of the scientist and a close friend of the Fuhrer, Mussolini. Hitler could not refuse him.

However, the last significant contribution was made by Napoleon’s granddaughter Marie. So Freud and his family left for London. It is noteworthy that Hitler soon ordered Freud to be arrested as soon as Britain was defeated, for his statements in support of the Czech Republic.

7. The first to declare the sensual nature of a woman

Freud avoided excessive publicity and stories about his personal life. This secrecy has become an occasion for fiction and false sensations.

In fact, Freud, not deprived of female attention, adhered to strict, puritanical views. He warned his students about the dangers of psychoanalysis, about the vulnerability of female patients. Many of these nervous and ardent women willingly shared sexual fantasies, and some were not averse to overstepping the bounds of what was permitted and putting them into practice.

Few of Freud’s students resisted the temptation, which Freud sincerely worried about. Interestingly, some feminists accused Freud of being too patriarchal. Despite the fact that patriarchy in his time, especially in science, was almost fundamental. Meanwhile, Freud was the first to declare the sensual nature of a woman, which women themselves were embarrassed to admit and what men were embarrassed to talk about.