Sigmund Schlomo Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in the small town of Frieberg, now part of the Czech Republic. In 1860 the family settled in Vienna where Sigmund received an education emphasizing classical literature and philosophy--an education that would serve him well in developing his theories and conveying them to a wide audience. The cultural ferment, ethnic tensions, and class conflicts of fin-de-siècle Vienna were part of Freud's daily existence. The city was a hothouse for radical innovations in politics, philosophy, the arts, and sciences. Freud chose early to concentrate on research in neurology, a field in which the frontiers of knowledge were changing dramatically. Financial concerns eventually led him to pursue clinical work with patients. His analyses of patients and of himself became the chief sources for his professional writings.
			Sigmund Freud, 1921 (Max Halberstadt, photographer) Library of Congress/Courtesy of A.W. Freud et al.