Göran Fredrik Göransson (20 January 1819 – 12 May 1900) was a Swedish

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

. He was the founder of the company ''Sandvikens Jernverks AB'' (now called Sandvik AB) and was the first person to implement the

Bessemer process The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation ...

successfully on an industrial scale and pioneered ingot steel in the Swedish iron and steel industry.

Early life

Göran Fredrik Göransson was born on 20 January 1819 in Gävle, Sweden, to Maria Catharina Elfstrand and Anders Petter Göransson. He was the oldest son in the family of three girls and four boys. He went to school in Gävle and also spent 18 months in Germany, France, England and the United States in order to acquire experience in conducting international business.

Career

In 1841, Göransson became a partner in the firm ''Daniel Elfstrand & Co.'', his family business, and its director in 1856. In 1856, the company also acquired the iron-works in Högbo along with the Edske

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...

. He traveled to England in 1857 to acquire a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

for the Edske furnace but after a change in business plans, bought one-fifth of Henry Bessemer's

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

for the production of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

from

pig-iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with ...

. He managed to convince the initially skeptical English of the excellence of the Bessemer process and his support was instrumental to the international spread of the method. Upon his return, the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

gave him a sum of 50,000 Swedish crowns for financing steel production using the

. The Bessemer method involved blasting a strong current of air through molten iron to burn off the

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon ma ...

and other impurities. However, it proved difficult to keep the temperature high enough throughout the process. After initial difficulties, Göransson successfully managed to produce steel on an industrial scale using the new process on 18 July 1858. He founded the firm ''Högbo Stål & Jernwerks AB'' on 31 January 1862 in Sandviken, Sweden and presented the now commercially viable Bessemer process at the

International Exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

in London. However, Göransson and the company entered into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

in 1866 due to bad capital resources. In 1868, the company was acquired and reconstructed into '' Sandvikens Jernverks AB'' with his eldest son, Anders Henrik Göransson as managing director and Per Murén as chairman. The firm was able to quickly expand in large foreign industrial markets such as Germany, Great Britain and the United States mainly due to Göransson's extensive connections abroad, cultivated during his time as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in Elfstrand & Co. Göransson would succeed Murén as the company's chairman in 1883.

Personal life and legacy

Göransson married Catharina Elisabeth Sehlberg on 31 May 1842. They had four sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Anders Henrik, would become

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of Sandvikens Jernverks AB and would later succeed his father as chairman after his death. He is responsible for the founding of Sandviken in 1862, which grew from a small fishing community on the bay of the

Storsjön Storsjön (, lit. "The Great Lake") is the fifth largest lake in Sweden, with an area of and a greatest depth of . It is the largest lake in central Sweden, located in the province of Jämtland in modern Jämtland County. From Storsjön runs the ...

lake to a thriving town around the

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finis ...

that he had established, and where most residents worked or owed their livelihoods to the company. In the 1860s, Göransson founded ''Stiftelsen den Göranssonska Fonden'', a foundation to help his firm's

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any ot ...

and their families to make ends meet. Along with two other foundations established by his descendants, the Foundation funds students' grants and treatment for the elderly, disabled and the chronically ill in the

Sandviken Municipality Sandviken Municipality (''Sandvikens kommun'') is a municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. The seat is the town of Sandviken. The present municipality was created in 1971 through the amalgamation of the City of Sandviken (it ...

. The Foundation also financed the construction of

Göransson Arena Göransson Arena is an indoor arena in Sandviken, Sweden. It opened in 2009 and holds up to 10,000 people at music events and 4,000 spectators for bandy. History The building of the arena was financed by the Göransson Foundations, established ...

, a multi-purpose

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

used for entertainment, sporting and cultural activities, which is named after him. He died on 12 May 1900 in Sandviken and is buried in the Sandviken cemetery.

Honors and awards

* Grand Cross of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

* Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

* Jernkontoret’s grand gold medal * Member of the

References

External links