August Strindberg

August Strindberg (1849 - 1912) was a Swedish writer and playwright.

Strindberg was a popular writer of romantic plays, but was prolific in all subjects. His collection of short stories, Married, caused controversy amongst the conservative elite and he was charged with indency. He voluntarily brought the publisher to court and won the case, which served to further increase his popularity.

Strindberg married three times. His third wife was Harriet Bosse, an actress whom he wrote Swanwhite for as a gift. Throughout their tumultous relationship she performed in his plays and his obsession for her lasted beyond their divorce. They had a child, Anne-Marie. Late in his life he met the young actress Fanny Faulkner, whom he cast in Swanwhite after a falling-out with Bosse, though the nature of their relationship is unclear.

Strindberg died of stomach cancer in 1912. In his journals published posthumously by Bosse, his entries indicate an awareness of his condition in 1908.

"My souls (characters) are conglomerations of past and present stages of civilization, bits from books and newspapers, scraps of humanity, rags and tatters of fine clothing, patched together as is the human soul. And I have added a little evolutionary history by making the weaker steal and repeat the words of the stronger, and by making the characters borrow ideas or "suggestions" from one another." (from the foreword to 'Miss Julie' in Six Plays of Strindberg, 1955)