Victor Frankl's Life and Work "Man's Search for Meaning"

March 26, 1905 marked the birth of Viktor Frankl in Vienna. He was a son to Gabriel Frankl and Elsa Frankl from Marovia. He was the second born in a family of three and wanted to become a physician when he grew up. He was turned to study psychology by his liking for people. He met Freud in 1925 on his way to graduating and published an article “Psychotherapy and Weltanschauung”, which was followed by the use of the term “logo therapy” in a public lecture the following year. This led to his refining of his particular brand of Viennese psychology. He earned his doctorate in medicine in 1930 and was promoted to an assistant position in the Psychiatric University Clinic.

He left for the United States in 1939 when Hitler’s troop invaded Austria after obtaining a visa to America where he was made the leader in the neurological department of Rothschild Hospital. It was in 1942 when he got married and in the same year his wife, his father, mother and brother were arrested and taken to a camp in Bohemia. His wife, mother, brother and father died leaving his sister who had immigrated to Australia a short while before (Frankl, 2004). He was left hopeless by the loss of his family members and the destruction of his manuscript “The Doctor and the Soul”. Later on, he got a job position of director of the Vienna Neurological Policlinic back at his home in Vienna. He later reconstructed his book and wrote a different book, “Man’s Search for Meaning” in nine days. Viktor Frankl later died on September 2, 1997, of heart failure.

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl is a story that talks about the need for hope in future especially to people who are facing trouble and disillusionment in life. The story emphasizes on the need to have hope a...

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...could stop him from achieving whatever he had planned. The fact that his work was destructed did not make him lose hope in coming up with new work (Frankl, 2004). This shows that he was hardworking and devoted towards his work. Frankl is also depicted as being philanthropic because of his attitude of loving and helping human beings. The character of Frankl is exceptional and people should therefore believe in his advice that faith and hope are solutions for a good future.

Works Cited:

Frankl, Viktor Emil. Man's Search for Meaning. Mölln: Ratna, 2006. Print.

Frankl, Viktor Emil. Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy – A Newly Revised and Enlarged Ed. of from Death-camp to Existentialism. Mölln: Beacon Press, 1962. Print.

Frankl, Viktor Emil. Man's Search for Meaning: The Classic Tribute to Hope from the Holocaust. Mölln: Rider, 2004. Print.