Strindberg, Frida |
| WRITER, LITERARY CRITIC, TRANSLATOR, SCREENWRITER, CABARET FOUNDER (AUSTRIA) |
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BORN 4 Apr 1872, Mondsee, Oberösterreich - DIED 28 Jun 1943, Salzburg: Landeskrankenhaus BIRTH NAME Uhl, Maria Friederike Cornelia GRAVE LOCATION Mondsee, Oberösterreich: Friedhof Mondsee, Josef-Bunkstrasse 6 |
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Frida Strindberg was the daughter of Friedrich Uhl (1825-1906), who was the publisher of the Wiener Zeitung and a theatre critic and a novelist. Her mother was Marie Uhl, born Reischl. The author Marie Weyr (1864-1903) was her older sister. Her parents lived separated and she lived with her father in Mondsee. Frida was educated at convent schools in Görz, Bad Reichenhall, London and Paris. She learned several languages and this would enable her to work as a translator. In 1892 she went to Berlin as literary correspondent for the Wiener Zeitung. There she met the playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912) in January 1893. She married him on 2 May 1893. It was said that during their wedding night Strindberg tried to strangle her, because he thought she was his first wife that he had recently divorced. She introduced Strindberg in London and promoted his work, but this only angered him. He did not want her to work but to stay at home. This forced them to move in with her grandparents at Schloss Dornach in Saxonia for financial reasons. They had a daughter, Kerstin (1894-1956), but soon they lived apart. Frida became a literary agent and scout for the London-based publishing house William Heinemann. She started an affair with another playwright, Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) in 1896. She divorced Strindberg early in 1897 and he never saw her or their daughter again. She bore Wedekind's son Friedrich on 21 August 1897. Because he was conceived before her divorce she was able to give him Strindberg's last name, but this would cause him trouble in later years. But Wedekind left her without marrying her. After her affair with Wedekind ended she left her son with her mother and she went to Munich. In 1900 she founded a cabaret together with her lover Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871-1943). In Vienna Frida worked as a translator for publishers and translated works by Oscar Wilde and other authors. She was associated with the Jung-Wien literary group and knew Peter Altenberg (1859-1919), Richard Schaukal (1874-1942) and Karl Kraus (1874-1936) well. In 1905 she sued her lover Werner van Oesteren (1874-1953) for assaulting a detective she had hired to follow him. This led to disclosures about their affair. Van Oesteren stated he was threatened by her with a revolver twice. She moved to London where she had a salon called Tower Bridge Hotel. She pursued the painter Augustus John (1878-1961), but he broke off their affair. On 26 June 1912 she opened the cabaret/literary nightclub "The Cave of the Golden Calf" at 9 Heddon Street in Soho. Spencer Gore (1878-1914) decorated it. It was influential on London's culture, but not a financial success. After the First World War broke out she left for the USA and her club was closed. In the USA she gave lectures on the recently deceased on August Strindberg. Under the name of Marie Eve, she wrote screenplays. Later in her live she lived at her family's holiday in Mondsee, Oberösterreich. In the 1930s she published a memoir of August Strindberg. She died alone in a hospital in Salzburg in 1943, and she was buried at the local cemetery of her birthplace Mondsee. Related persons • was the lover of Ewers, Hanns Heinz • knew Kraus, Karl • was the lover of Wedekind, Frank • translated work by Wilde, Oscar |
| Images |
 The grave of Frida Strindberg at Friedhof Mondsee in Mondsee, Oberösterreich. Picture by Androom (05 Sep 2026) |
Sources • The Lives and Loves of Frida Strindberg • Scenes From a Hellish Marriage • Frida Strindberg - Wikipedia (DE) • The Cave of the Golden Calf - London Guided Walks |
