Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud was an Australian physician who revolutionized ideas on how the human mind works. Freud established the theory that unconscious motives control many behaviors. He advanced the fields of psychiatry and psychology. Freud was born on May 6, 1856, In Freiberg, Moravia. He was the oldest of eight children, and his father was a wool merchant. He graduated from the medical school of the University of Vienna in 1881. Freud later decided to specialize in neurology, the study and treatment of disorders of the nervous system. Freud began to work extensively with hysterical patients. He gradually formed ideas about the origin and treatment of mental illness; F