Portrait photograph of Antti Ahlström (early 1890s)

Antti Ahlström (7 November 1827 – 10 May 1896) founded the Ahlstrom Corporation. He was one of Finland's influential and wealthy 19th-century businessman. In addition, Ahlström was an industrialist,

ship owner A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain fre ...

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, commercial counselor and legislator.

Biography

Antti Ahlström was born in

Merikarvia Merikarvia (; sv, Sastmola) is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region. The neighboring municipalities are Isojoki, Kristinestad, Pomarkku, Pori and Siikainen. The municipality has a population of () and it covers an ar ...

, and was a socially active citizen, representing the bourgeoisie of the Town of

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

at the Diet of the Estates in 1877–1878 and in 1894. He was awarded the highly distinguished honorary title of Commercial Counsellor in 1881. Ahlström and his wife made considerable donations to public schools and to public education to further the national interest, and to the arts, for instance to the

Finnish National Theatre The Finnish National Theatre ( fi, Suomen Kansallisteatteri), established in 1872, is a theatre located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. The Finnish National Theatre is the oldest Finnish ...

and the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...

. The Ahlströms were also patrons to several Finnish artists, including

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national ident ...

.Vierivä kivi opera
Between 1866 and 1874, Antti Ahlström's big business was shipping; he became the largest

shipowner A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain frei ...

in 1871. It was in shipping that he earned the starting capital which he subsequently used to build his sawmill empire. The purchase of the manor and iron works in

Noormarkku Noormarkku ( sv, Norrmark) is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Satakunta region. The municipality had a population of 6,158 (31 December 2009) and covered an area of of which ...

in 1870 was a milestone in Antti Ahlström's career: the purchase sealed his status as an important businessman and a ‘lord of the manor’. One month after the deed of sale was signed, his wife Margaretha Ahlström died of a sudden illness. In the following year, Antti Ahlström married again, this time to a woman 20 years his junior, Eva Holmström.Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (BLF): Antti Ahlström
/ref> Ahlström's business grew rapidly through major acquisitions, such as the iron works in Kauttua, Leineperi and Strömfors and the sawmills in Haminaholma, Suursaari and

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Antti Ahlström and Family

When Antti Ahlström died on 10 May 1896, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, he left behind a fortune estimated at 11,4 million Finnish marks, which was Finland's largest at the time. Although difficult to estimate, this would likely be the equivalent of billions of

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

today.

References

External links

Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (BLF): Antti Ahlström

Ahlström, Antti
Kansallisbiografia
Vierivä kivi opera
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlstrom, Antti 1827 births 1896 deaths People from Merikarvia People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Members of the Diet of Finland 19th-century Finnish businesspeople Businesspeople from the Russian Empire Finnish patrons of the arts Finnish industrialists

Biography

See also

References

External links