Editing August Strindberg (section)

===Youth===
[[File:Klara skola.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The school in [[Klara (Stockholm)|Klara, Stockholm]], whose harsh discipline haunted Strindberg in his adult life]]

Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg ([[Shipping agency|a shipping agent]]) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid).<ref>Meyer (1985, 3–4). In his autobiographical novel, ''[[The Son of a Servant]]'' (1886), Strindberg described his father as "an aristocrat by birth and upbringing"; quoted by Meyer (1985, 8). When Johan August was four his father was declared bankrupt; see Meyer (1985, 7). He had two elder brothers, Carl Axel and Oscar, who were born before their parents were married. After Johan August came another brother, Olle, and three sisters, Anna, Elisabeth, and Nora; see Meyer (1988, 3, 7).</ref> In his autobiographical novel ''[[The Son of a Servant]]'', Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect".<ref>Merriam-Webster (1995, 1074–5). One of his biographers, [[Olof Lagercrantz]], warns against the use of ''[[The Son of a Servant]]'' as a biographical source. Lagercrantz notes Strindberg's "talent to make us believe what he wants us to believe" and his unwillingness to accept any characterization of his person other than his own (1984).</ref> When he was seven, the family moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural, periphery of the city.<ref>Meyer (1985, 9–10). Norrtullsgatan is not far from [[Tegnérlunden]], the park where [[Carl Eldh]]'s grand statue of Strindberg was later placed.</ref> A year later they moved near Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.strindbergsmuseet.se/stockholm3.html |title=Norrmalm |last=Höök |first=Erik |access-date=16 February 2017 |website=[[Strindberg Museum]] |language=sv |quote=Strindberg bodde större delen av sin uppväxt i olika malmgårdar nära Norrtull. Längs bodde man på Norrtullsgatan 14, där [[Norrtulls sjukhus]] nu ligger. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501171521/http://www.strindbergsmuseet.se/stockholm3.html |archive-date=1 May 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Meyer (1985, 11).</ref> He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life.<ref>Meyer (1985, 10).</ref> He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year.<ref>Meyer (1985, 11–13).</ref> In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the [[Stockholms Lyceum|Stockholm Lyceum]], a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years.<ref name="Meyer 1985, 13">Meyer (1985, 13).</ref> As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's [[Pietism]]).<ref>Meyer (1985, 12–13).</ref> His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence.<ref name="Meyer 1985, 13"/> She died when he was 13, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure.<ref name="Meyer 1985, 15">Meyer (1985, 13–15).</ref> Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's [[governess]], Emilia Charlotta Pettersson.<ref>Meyer (1985, 15). Together they had a son, Emil, who was born in the year after their marriage.</ref> According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies.<ref name="Meyer 1985, 15"/> He passed his [[Studentexamen|graduation examination]] in May 1867 and enrolled at the [[Uppsala University]], where he began on 13 September.<ref>Meyer (1985, 18–19).</ref>

Strindberg spent the next few years in [[Uppsala]] and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of [[Lund]] in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm.<ref name=Adams_2002>Adams (2002)<!-- missing page numbers for citations -->.</ref> He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the [[Royal Institute of Technology|Institute of Technology]] in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the [[Royal Dramatic Theatre|Royal Theatre]] in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.