Sigmund Freud - not to be confused with Lucian Freud, an artist

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a method for treating mental illness and a theory of human behavior. He proposed that our unconscious mind influences thoughts and actions, shaping personality through childhood experiences and repressed feelings. Freud introduced concepts like the id (instincts), ego (reality), and superego (morality) to explain human behavior. His ideas about dreams, sexuality, and neuroses have profoundly impacted psychology, literature, and culture, though some of his theories have been critiqued or revised. Freud's work paved the way for modern psychology and our understanding of the mind.