- His major academic regret was that he did not get the Nobel Prize, which he had long coveted. The psychiatric community remained hostile to his "sexual" theories and even Albert Einstein refused to support Freud's candidacy.
- In his last year, after the German annexation of Austria, Freud--as a Jew, and knowing that his ideas were anathema to the Nazis--realized he must leave the country. He got visas for himself and his family to Great Britain, but only after being questioned by the Gestapo. As the affair became news in Western Europe, the Gestapo demanded that Freud declare he had not been maltreated by the German police; he did so and left for London.
- When only eight years old, he was reading the works of William Shakespeare.
- Considered studying law.
- Father of Anna Freud. Grandfather of Lucian Freud. Great-grandfather of Esther Freud, Matthew Freud, Bella Freud, and Emma Freud.
- The apartment where he and his family lived in Vienna at Berggasse 19 is now the 'Sigmund Freud Museum'.
- The father of psychoanalysis also laid the groundwork for the psychoanalytical societies of the world. In 1908 the Wednesday Psychological Society (as it was called), which met at Freud's home, was reconstituted as the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society--the first such society. When similar societies were formed in other cities of the world, they also held their meetings on Wednesday evenings.
- Buried at Golders Green Crematorium Cemetery located on Hoop Lane, London, England, UK. There are dozens of notable and very famous people buried there.
- Children: Mathilde (1887-1978), Jean Martin (1889-1967), Oliver (1891-1969), Ernest Ludwig (1892-1970), Sophie (1893-1920) and Anna (1895-1982).
- His hobbies were hiking and gathering wild mushrooms, usually at the same time.
- The Freud Museum - 20 Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 5SX - is the very same North London location where Freud once lived.
- In Philip K. Dick's sci-fi work "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", stress in the futuristic society described is measured in units called "Freuds".
- Psychoanalysis had an influence on the Surrealist Art movement. The story goes that Salvador Dalí was keen to show Freud his painting "The Transformation of Narcissus", saying that it was a painting of his subconscious. Freud was dismissive, saying, "See, this man is a classic Spanish stereotype, a fanatic!".
- Lampooned on the TV series Friends (1994).
- His daughter Anna Freud went straight into a similar line of work, and the Anna Freud Centre is directly next to the Freud Museum, his former home.
- On one occasion, a patient wanted to stop an analysis session so that he could go home and eat. Freud cooked him some fish so they could continue.
- Inspired the word "Freudian".
- His father was a Jewish wool merchant.
- His two half-brothers, Emmanuel and Philipp, were almost the same age as his mother, Amalia. She was the third wife of his father, Jacob Freud, who was 20 years her senior.
- Even his patients are celebrities. He wrote papers about them using pseudonyms, but their real names are well known among psychoanalytic circles. The most famous include: Bertha Pappenheim/"Anna O" (hysteria), Ida Bauer/"Dora"(hysteria), Herbert Graf/"Little Hans" (phobia), Ernst Lanzer/"the Rat Man" (obsessive behavior), Daniel Schreber (paranoia) and Sergius Pankejeff/"the Wolf Man" (deep neurosis).
- Grandfather of Clement Freud.
- Mentioned in Girl, Interrupted (1999).
- Mentioned in the Edward Albee play "Zoo Story".
- Interestingly, his name sounds like the German word for Joy: "Freude". So he was "Dr. Joy".
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