Frans Suell (9 June 1744 – 15 November 1817) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

businessman.

Life

His grandfather Franz Suell immigrated to

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 populat ...

from Holstein in the mid 18th century. Frans grew up working in his father Niclas' shop selling mostly provisions; after studying two years at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, a period of political disorder in the chief tobacco-growing regions of North America. These events broke the power of the ''tobacco lairds'' based in Glasgow and other British port cities, and made it possible for Suell to import tobacco directly from North America. He prospered, and beginning in 1775 led a consortium of local shippers in the successful public works project of dredging and embanking the

harbour. It is for this work that he is remembered in Malmö today. Suell also acquired interests in many other industries connected with the spread of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

to Sweden, such as textiles, the smelting of iron, and the refining of beet sugar.

Legacy

Two ships have been named in his honour: MT ''Frans Suell'' (1958) and MS ''Frans Suell'' (1992) 1744 births 1818 deaths History of Malmö 18th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish businesspeople {{Sweden-business-bio-stub