Barun Bicky Chakraborty (28 August 1943 – 26 August 2022) was an Indian-born Swedish businessman. He was the president and founder of Elite Hotels of Sweden and The Bishop's Arms. He was counted as one of the richest men in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

Biography

Chakraborty came to Sweden from Calcutta, India in 1966 to study Sociology at the

University of Stockholm Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, soci ...

. He saw that student dormitories were empty over the summer and began pushing the dorm Domus as a discount hotel to rent out those who were located near

Stureplan Stureplan is a public square in central Stockholm, between Norrmalm and Östermalm. The square connects the major streets Kungsgatan, Birger Jarlsgatan and Sturegatan. The buildings around the square house offices of banks and other financia ...

in Stockholm. Chakraborty managed to acquire these properties from the student association in private hands and they became due plate in his hotel empire. Later he went on to buy the rundown city hotel (sv) and rehabilitate it. In 1980, he bought Hotel in London, a historic city hotel from 1858. At this time there were several run down city hotels around the country. Swedish hospitality was most focused on

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...

s near urban areas. Chakraborty saw this opportunity to revive the ancient city hotel tradition, but in a more modern form. Bicky Chakraborty owned and operated the hotel chain Elite (sv), which covers several historically important city hotels in the country, including Hotel Knaust (sv) in Sundsvall, Hotel Mollberg (sv) in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

, Hotel Savoy (sv) in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

and the City Hotel in

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

. Bicky Chakraborty's hotel business is the only Swedish-owned hotel chain in Sweden.

Awards and recognition

In 2008, Chakraborty was awarded the Royal Patriotic Society Business Medal for having contributed to the development of Swedish industry. He was also the winner of the

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Honour/Award) is the highest Indian award for Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India or an organisation or institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Orig ...

awarded by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. Chakraborty was also member of the Jönköping University Foundation.Högskolan i Jönköping: Bicky Chakraborty
läst 8 January 2013

Personal life

Chakraborty married Ylva Lindberg, the sister of Princess

Marianne Bernadotte Gullan Marianne, Princess Bernadotte, Countess of Wisborg (née Lindberg, later Tchang; born 15 July 1924), also known as Princess Marianne Bernadotte, is a Swedish actress, fashion icon and philanthropist who in 1961 married Sigvard Bernadott ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakraborty, Bicky 1943 births 2022 deaths Bengali Hindus Businesspeople from Kolkata Indian emigrants to Sweden Swedish people of Indian descent Swedish hoteliers Swedish Hindus Stockholm University alumni Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman