The Wolfman - Sigmund Freud

Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who, in 1918, wrote an in-depth, longitudinal case study about a patient – Sergei Pankejeff, aka, The Wolfman (From the History of an Infantile Neurosis). Freud had developed a theory that the unconscious is the largest part of our minds and therefore has the greatest influence on our development. This particular case study informed more specifically the development of his theory of psychosexual development. He used case studies, gathering data from psychoanalytic sessions with patients to try to uncover unconscious wishes, thoughts, desires, and fears. Much of Freud’s analysis of The Wolfman centred on a dream that the patient had as a young child, a representation of which Pankejeff sketched.

Sergei Pankejeff, 1965. © Freud Museum London

View The Wolf Man’s Dream by Sergei Pankejeff

As with all Freud’s works, the Wolfman case study and the resultant analysis, has been heavily criticized, even by the subject himself. Nevertheless, Freud’s theory development based on case studies has informed the psychoanalytic community and discourse to this day.

Sergei Pankejeff: Who Was the Wolf Man?