The Private Life of Sigmund Freud

Broadcast 26 February, 2021. Duration: 1 hour 19 minutes

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What sort of private life did Sigmund Freud lead? Did his barber really pay house-calls every morning to cut his hair? Did his wife really put toothpaste on his toothbrush to save him precious time? And is it true that, at mealtimes, Freud refused to eat cauliflower because it reminded him of the human brain?

In this online event, Professor Brett Kahr will explore the intricate details of Freud’s daily routine from early morning until bedtime, taking us on a fascinating journey through the intimate moments of the life of the father of psychoanalysis. Kahr will trace the arc of Freud’s day from awakening, when he dressed in white cotton shirts and suits of British cloth, to his bedtime habits of reading and smoking while snuggling a hot water bottle to stave off the cold Viennese winds.

While focusing on Freud’s domestic routine and on the details of his relentless hours in the consulting room, Kahr will also reconsider some of the myths and allegations about Freud’s character. Was he really as vicious to colleagues as many historians have suggested? Did he really have an extramarital affair with his sister-in-law, who lived in the adjoining bedroom in the family home? And did he really steal ideas from others without due acknowledgement?

Professor Kahr will draw upon many of the precious, unpublished documents in the archives of Freud Museum London and, also, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

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Speaker:

Professor Brett Kahr is Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology in London and, also, Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis and Mental Health at Regent’s University London. Additionally, he serves as Chair of the Scholars Committee of the British Psychoanalytic Council and, also, as a Lifetime Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. A trained historian as well as a clinician, he is Honorary Fellow and Honorary Director of Research at the Freud Museum London as well as Series Editor of the “Freud Museum London Series”. Professor Kahr is the author of twenty books and the series editor of over eighty-five further titles. His most Freud-friendly books include Life Lessons from Freud and Coffee with Freud, as well as Freud’s Pandemics: Surviving Global War, Spanish War, and the Nazis. A Consultant in Psychology to The Bowlby Centre and, also, a Consultant Psychotherapist at The Balint Consultancy, he works with both individuals and couples in independent practice in Holborn, in Central London.