Sigmund Freud was the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis and the author of The Interpretation of Dreams, published in a work dated 1900.
Born in the Moravian town of Freiberg and raised mainly in Vienna, Freud trained as a physician and initially pursued research in neurology. His clinical work with patients experiencing hysteria led him toward theories emphasizing unconscious thoughts, repression, childhood experience, and the emotional meaning of symptoms. He developed techniques such as free association and dream interpretation as central parts of psychoanalytic practice.
The Interpretation of Dreams presented dreams as meaningful psychological activity rather than random mental noise. Freud argued that dreams could express disguised wishes and repressed ideas, and he introduced a model distinguishing conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mental processes. A common date mix-up is that the book first appeared in late 1899, although its title page and standard bibliographic date identify it as a 1900 publication.
Freud is often confused with Carl Jung or Alfred Adler, both early associates who later founded distinct schools of psychology. His theories remain historically influential, though many specific claims are debated and do not represent the consensus of modern experimental psychology.