Anna Freud

Anna Freud , 1895-1982, British psychoanalyst, b. Vienna, Austria. Continuing the work of her father, Sigmund Freud , she was a pioneer in the psychoanalysis of children. She received her training in Vienna before emigrating (1938) with her father to England, where she founded and directed a clinic for child therapy. In an influential 1937 work, she argued that the ego had an active role in resolving conflict and tension. Other psychoanalysts, including Heinz Hartmann and Erik Erikson , advanced her ideas in their own work. Her writings include Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1965) and The Writings of Anna Freud (7 vol., 1973).

Bibliography: See biography by R. Coles (1992).

Freud, Anna (1895–1982) British psychotherapist, b. Austria, youngest of Sigmund Freud's children. She applied psychoanalysis to the development of children, was an early exponent of play therapy, and wrote a number of books, including Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1968).