Johan August Strindberg was born into a middle-class family in Stockholm-Riddarholmen on 22 January 1849. His mother had been his father's maid before her marriage; she died of tuberculosis when Strindberg was thirteen years old. He studied at Uppsala University from 1867 to 1872 and became a journalist in Stockholm. His life and his work are closely linked. After his first separation, he wrote The Plea of a Madman in 1887. His three marriages failed, which was attributed to his hypersensitive and neurotic character. Strindberg became famous for his novel The Red Room (1879). His main work, the theatre play Miss Julie (1888), was published in 1888. Strindberg then experienced a period of inner turmoil, which inspired him to write Inferno (1897) and Totentanz (1900-1901). August Strindberg died in Stockholm on 14 May 1912.