Viktor Rydberg

Abraham Viktor Rydberg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɑ̂ːbraham ˈvɪ̌kːtɔr ˈrŷːdbærj]; 18 December 1828 – 21 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 was "generally regarded in the first rank of Swedish novelists."

Biography

Viktor Rydberg was of humble parentage. He was the son of a soldier turned prison guard, Johan Rydberg, and a midwife, Hedvig Düker. Viktor Rydberg had two brothers and three sisters. In 1834 his mother died during a cholera epidemic. Her death broke the spirit of his father, who yielded to hypochondria and alcoholism, contributing towards his loss of employment and the family's apartment, forcing authorities to board young Viktor out to a series of foster homes, one of which burnt down, further traumatizing the youth. From 1838 to 1847, Rydberg attended grammar school, and studied law at the University of Lund from 1851 to 1852. Due to financial reasons, his university studies ended after one year without a degree. Afterward, he took a job as a private tutor.

Despite his economic status, Rydberg was recognized for his talents. One biographer notes that: "He had a hard struggle to satisfy the thirst for learning which was a leading passion of his life, but he finally attained distinction in several fields of scholarship." In 1855, he was offered work at the Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning, a newspaper in Gothenburg, where he remained employed for more than 20 years. It was during this time that his first novels saw print. He soon became a central figure of late Romanticism in Sweden, and Sweden's most famous living author.