Strindberg family in Stockholm

 

  • "What I am going to miss the most about Sweden are the cousins we are leaving behind. I can't imagine how my great-grandparents felt when they emigrated to America in 1891. My cousin Barbro gave me a gift of a hand-colored map of Sweden from 1804. This way I can remember Sweden as my ancestors saw it. I can't thank her enough for her thoughtfulness. I will treasure this."
    Reader Lori Edholms Adams returned from her first trip to Sweden with her sisters this fall. The three sisters are related to August Strindberg (2nd cousins, 5x removed), visited the Jämtland villages where the family has its roots and attended a gathering of the Strindbergska Family Association in Stockholm.

  • According to the association chairman, about 40 people participated in the annual Strindbergska Family Association meeting held at Lilla Hasselbacken on Djurgården in Stockholm. Across the street is the Grand (Stora) Hasselbacken where their well known ancestor, author and playwright August Strindberg, was a regular. Everyone had also visited the renowned museum, Liljevalch's art gallery, whose first leader in 1916 was a member of the family, Sven Strindberg.
    The Strindbergska Family Association, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2019, received new members when three sisters from the United States joined the association.
    The American guests received a special presentation by the family association chairman Håkan Wasén, of Stockholm's "Gamla Stan" (the Old Town), where the Strindberg family lived and worked in the first half of the 19th century. Likewise, the sisters visited "Dramaten" (the Royal Dramatic Theater), which opened in 1908 with Master Olof, a play by August Strindberg. His older brother Axel was also a conductor at Dramaten for a number of years.
    The gathering ended the following day with a visit at the Strindberg Museum where the guests compared old family portraits and discovered a family trait: the chin of Strindberg ("Strindbergska hakan").

  • Bildtexter. 1. Relatives outside Strindberg Museum with Håkan Wasén, chairman of Strindbergska Family Association, left. Photo: Håkan Wasén
    2. Relatives at the sculpture of August Strindberg in front of the Royal Dramatic Theater, Stockholm. Photo: Håkan Wasén