ABSTRACT
The scientific spirit that governed Albert Einstein's discoveries appeared to have nothing in common with the spirit that was compelling Sigmund Freud to remove one by one the superposed layers of illusions constructed in man's consciousness, this small portion that represents his psyche. In 1936, on the occasion of Freud's eightieth birthday, Einstein was among those who paid homage to him. When Ernest Jones expressed the desire to organise a grandiose celebration for Freud's eightieth birthday, Freud told him that he preferred a private gathering with his friends. Like a warrior, Freud seemed determined not to desert his post and could not imagine dying away from Vienna. Freud had always been attracted to Great Britain, where part of his family was already living. He wrote to his son Ernst that he was happy to come to join him there, and be able "to die in freedom", comparing himself with Agnes Jacob whom his children led into Egypt.
