Artist

Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish author and playwright whose work engaged the concepts of naturalism and expressionism. He was born in Stockholm on January 22, 1849, to an unsuccessful shipping agent and a maidservant. He attended the University of Uppsala, but he would often leave to act at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, teach or write plays. He left Uppsala permanently in 1872 to work as a journalist and a librarian at the Royal Library in Stockholm. In 1879, Strindberg published his novel “The Red Room,” making him famous in Sweden. His play Master Olof, a historical drama published in 1872, was finally performed in 1881, and he wrote several plays criticizing social conventions in Sweden, including Lucky Peter’s Travels (1882), The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), Creditors (1888), The Stronger (1888) and Playing with Fire (1892). During the 1890s, Strindberg suffered from psychological and emotional stress, which he described in his novel “Inferno,” that culminated in his adoption of mysticism. The post-"Inferno" period was more productive for Strindberg. He wrote thirty-six plays from 1898 to 1909, including To Damascus (1898), a trilogy, Gustav Vasa (1899), Erik the Fourteenth (1899), Easter (1900), The Dance of Death (1900), A Dream Play (1901), Queen Christinia (1901), Storm (1907), The Ghost Sonata (1907) and The Great Highway (1909). He died in Stockholm on May 14, 1912.