May 6th: Freud Day

Sigmund Freud was born on this date in 1856, so today is celebrated as Freud Day. Here are 10 things you may not know about Sigmund Freud:

1. His middle name was Schlomo.
2. Before specialising in psychoanalysis, Freud carried out research into cocaine, cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy; and in 1876, spent a month in Trieste, dissecting eels looking for their male reproductive organs.
3. He was a big fan of Shakespeare, and some of his theories of human psychology may have been inspired by Shakespeare's plays.
4. It was while studying in Paris with Jean-Martin Charcot, a renowned neurologist who was conducting scientific research into hypnosis, that he developed his interest in medical psychopathology.
5. Freud was a heavy smoker, and believed that he could work better while smoking a cigar. He also maintained that he was not addicted and could smoke in moderation.
6. Freud's famous patients included Gustav Mahler and Princess Marie Bonaparte.
7. Princess Marie Bonaparte was later to help him escape to England from Nazi occupied Vienna, by providing the necessary finances.
8. When the Nazis took control of Germany, Freud's books were among those they burned. Freud quipped: "What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now, they are content with burning my books."
9. On arrival in London, Freud recreated his Vienna consulting room exactly in his Hampstead home.
10. Freud's death was an assisted suicide. He had made a contract with Max Schur, his doctor and his friend, that Schur would help him when the time came. In pain and suffering from terminal cancer, Freud reminded Schur of the contract and suggested Schur discussed the matter with Freud's daughter, Anna. Although Anna did not want her father to die yet, Schur persuaded her that it was the right thing to do, and Freud died after Schur administered high doses of morphine.