Helge Palmcrantz (July 7, 1842 – November 22, 1880) was a Swedish

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Biography

Palmcrantz was born at Hammerdal in

Jämtland Jämtland () is a historical provinces of Sweden, province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland, Sweden, Lapland to the north and Trøndelag and Norw ...

, Sweden. He was the son of Per Gustaf Palmcrantz (1806–1905) and Lovisa Ulrika Nordenmark. His father was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the Jämtland Ranger Regiment. He was enlisted as a cadet in his father's

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

, where he worked doing

land surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

. After a couple of years he left the regiment to study at the Technological Institute of Stockholm, later known as

KTH Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a Public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in Institute of technology, engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest te ...

. In partnership with his brother-in-law, Theodor Winborg (1832–1918), Palmcrantz founded a small workshop on Vollmar Yxkullsgatan 25,

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. As number of employees increased along with the production volume, he moved to a new factory on Kungsholmen, Stockholm, where they manufactured

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

, reaping machines,

mower A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reape ...

s and other agricultural equipment of their own design. The Palmcrantz factory, , would later be built on Lövholmen, Stockholm. In 1868, the first version of his machine gun was finished and a demonstration of its capacity was held on Ladugårdsgärdet, Stockholm in front of the Swedish Defense Minister; G. R. Abel. After a couple of modifications and improvements, he patented the multi-barrel, lever-actuated, machine gun and it was bought into the Swedish army. The same year, the machine-gun was exhibited at the

1873 Vienna World's Fair The 1873 Vienna World's Fair () was the large world exposition that was held from 1 May to 31 October 1873 in the Austria-Hungarian capital Vienna. Its motto was "Culture and Education" (). History As well as being a chance to showcase Austro- ...

. To reach international success, Palmcrantz met industrialist Thorsten Nordenfelt (1842–1920) in 1875 and the latter's company became his British agent. They agreed to market the machine gun under the then well known Nordenfelt brand and his second model would later be known as the '' Nordenfelt machine gun'' after his financial backer. It was Nordenfelt who convinced Palmcrantz to increase the

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...

of his gun to one inch, making it a suitable weapon for use against the growing threat of

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s. Palmcrantz succumbed to an early death from a bleeding

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughin ...

. He was buried at Norra Begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. Helge Palmcrantz has a former school named after him, Palmcrantzskolan in

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

. The block names "Kulsprutan" and "Lavetten" on Kungsholmen are named after his factories at Hantverkargatan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmcrantz, Helge 1842 births 1880 deaths People from Strömsund Municipality 19th-century Swedish inventors Weapon designers Firearm designers 19th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish nobility KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen