Adler, Alfred

Basic Biography

Alfred Adler was born on February 7, 1870, in Penzing, Austria. His early childhood was plagued with disease, including rickets and pneumonia, which heavily influenced his decision to become aphysician. In 1895 he received his medical degree from the University of Vienna, where he met his wife, Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein, aRussian student who was also an intellectual and social activist.

Starting out as an ophthalmologist, he quickly switched to primary care. His clientele came from the lower strata of society, including workers from the combination amusement park and circus close to his office. In 1902 he met Sigmund Freud and became part of the psychoanalytic movement he had created, rising to become President of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1910. However, since his ideas were often at odds with Freud’s, ayear later Adler and his supporters formally broke with the psychoanalytic school. Adler believed that the exterior or social realm was as important as the...