Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) was a German psychiatrist and sexologist who is best known for his groundbreaking work on human sexuality, Psychopathia Sexualis. He is considered to be the founder of modern sexology and is credited with introducing the terms ‘sadism’ and ‘masochism’.
Krafft-Ebing was born in Mannheim, Germany in 1840 and studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg, where he developed an interest in neurology and psychiatry. He completed his medical degree in 1865 and went on to become a professor of psychiatry at the University of Vienna in 1872.
Krafft-Ebing’s most famous work, Psychopathia Sexualis, was published in 1886 and is based on his clinical observations of sexual disorders. The book describes various sexual practices, including homosexual behavior, sadism, masochism, and fetishism. He also coined the terms ‘sadism’ and ‘masochism’, which are still used today. The book was hugely influential in its time and is considered to be the first comprehensive study of human sexuality.
Krafft-Ebing’s work has had a lasting impact on the field of sexology, and his theories were groundbreaking for their time. He was one of the first to recognize that sexual behavior is not necessarily an indication of mental illness, and that there is a wide variation in sexual behavior among different people. He also emphasized the importance of understanding and accepting sexual diversity rather than pathologizing it.
Krafft-Ebing’s work has been widely discussed and debated in the scientific community. For further reading, you can find scientific journal articles about Krafft-Ebing at:
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16626039/
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0080440102000038
• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02170584
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2004.00179.x