author
R. von (Richard) Krafft-Ebing
1840–1902
A pioneering 19th-century psychiatrist, he became one of the best-known early writers on the psychology of sexuality and its place in law and medicine. His work is historically influential, even when many of its ideas now feel firmly tied to the medical thinking of his era.
2 Audiobooks
Étude Médico-Légale: Psychopathia Sexualis avec recherches spéciales sur l'inversion sexuelle
by R. von (Richard) Krafft-Ebing
Psychopathia sexualis: With especial reference to contrary sexual instinct A medico-legal study
by R. von (Richard) Krafft-Ebing
About the author
Born in Mannheim on August 14, 1840, Richard von Krafft-Ebing trained in medicine in Heidelberg and built his career in psychiatry and neurology. He taught at universities including Strasbourg, Graz, and Vienna, and he was especially known for bringing psychiatric expertise into legal and criminal cases.
He is best remembered for Psychopathia Sexualis (1886), a book that gathered case studies and classifications of sexual behavior for doctors and jurists. The book became widely read and helped shape early sexology, while also reflecting the moral and medical assumptions of the late 19th century.
Krafft-Ebing died on December 22, 1902, near Graz. Today he is remembered both as an important founder in forensic psychiatry and sexology, and as a figure whose writings are often read with historical caution as well as scholarly interest.