On December 3, 1895, Anna Freud was born to Sigmund and Martha Freud in Vienna, Austria. Anna was the youngest of the Freud’s six children. She was described as being a mischievous child who was extraordinary close to her father, but grew estranged from her mother and five siblings. Anna often spoke of her feelings of rivalry against her older sister Sophie, being labeled the beautiful Freud child and Anna being labeled the brains of the family. The bond with Anna’s mother Martha was strained as Anna and her siblings were mostly raised by their nanny, Josefine Cihlarz. Anna started her education in 1912 at Cottage Lyceum in Vienna and was unsure about her career path. Her English language skills were improved when she traveled to England in 1914, which she later returned back to Vienna following the declaration of war. Anna earned teaching credentials and began teaching at her old school. After spending many hours observing and teaching her pupils, she expressed interest in the field of child psychology. She chose to abandon being only a teacher to help children and pursued a career in her father’s footsteps of psychoanalysis (The Anna Freud Centre, 1993).
At the age of 14, Anna’s father, Sigmund, increased her interest in the field of psychology when he allowed her to read his writings over psychoanalysis. In 1918, Sigmund began analyzing Anna’s nighttime dreams, and in 1920 she accompanied him to the International
Cited: Boeree, G.C. (1998). Anna Freud. Personality Theories. Retrieved June 14, 2012 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/annafreud.html Cherry, K. (2010). Anna Freud biography. About Psychology. Retrieved June 14, 2012 from http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_annafreud.htm Goodwin, C.J. (2005). A history of modern psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley The Anna Freud Centre. (1993). About Anna Freud. A centre of learning: A centre of practice. Freud Museum Publications.