The budding romance between the nineteen-year-old Anna and Jones was, however, nipped in the bud by Freud's suspicions and hostility toward Jones' interest in his daughter. (Gardner and Stevens, 1992) Her Major Contribution

Anna Freud's contribution in the fields of 20th century psychiatry and psychoanalysis is second, perhaps, only to that of her father. Her genial nature apart from the quality of her work made her popular among her colleagues despite her professional differences with psychoanalysts such as Melanie Klein. (Fine 1992)

Anna Freud started her writings by translating her father's works into English and helped him to articulate his current works. She, however, had too much intellect to remain under her illustrious father's shadow all her life. While remaining faithful to the basic ideas of her father, she developed them further by emphasizing the importance of "ego" in our psyche. Her classic work The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (1936), described by Harvard scholar Robert Coles as "one of the most important psychoanalytic books ever written," gives a particularly clear description of how the defenses work. (Quoted by Fine 1990) The work gave rise to a whole new movement in psychoanalytic circles called "ego psychology." Anna Freud was not just a theoretician and carried out considerable practical work in the analysis of children and adolescents. She helped to set up the Hamstead Child Therapy Clinic in London where pioneering work on child and adolescent personality development was performed. (Boeree 1998)

Conclusion

Though her "father's daughter" in the true sense of the word, she proved through her innovative work in child psychology that "family romance" is not necessarily a neurotic condition but part of our "normal" development as human beings. The influence of Sigmund Freud on psychoanalysis would, perhaps, not have been as great if Anna had not followed him as his successor.
Reference

"Anna Freud." (n.d.) Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society. . Retrieved on May 6, 2005 from http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/annafreud.html

Boeree, Dr. C.G. (1998). "Anna Freud." Personality Theories. Retrieved on May 6, 2005 from http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/annafreud.html

Gardner, S. & Stevens, G. (1992). Red Vienna and the Golden Age of Psychology, 1918-1938. New York: Paraeger Publishers.

"Life and Work of Anna Freud." (2005). Freud Museum. . Retrieved on May 6, 2005 from http://www.freud.org.uk/fmanna.htm

Fine, Reuben. (1990). Chapter on "Anna Freud 1895-1982" in Women in Psychology: A Bio-Bibliographic Soucebook. O'Connel A.N. & Russo, N.F. Eds. New York: Greenwood Press.

The letter also reflects the special fondness of Sigmund Freud for his youngest daughter. Even as a very young girl, Anna, was pampered and indulged by her father, who adored her because she was cheeky, and adventurous

The extent of her popularity is reflected in a survey of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts conducted to identify outstanding colleagues, in which Anna Freud was the name most often mentioned by both. (Fine 1992)