Henrik Enok Isidor Behrens (1868–1951) was the founder of the Swedish

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

Allmänna Idrottsklubben AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

(AIK) and its first chairholder. AIK was founded on February 15, 1891, at the home of Behrens and his family in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, at the downtown address of Biblioteksgatan 8.

Early life

Isidor Behrens was born on January 3, 1868, in

. Behrens was of

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descent after his father, Carl August Heinrich Behrens, who was born in Burgberg, Germany and came to Sweden in 1862. His mother Anna Charlotta Behrens (born Wretberg) was from Häradshammar in

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. Isidor Behrens had two brothers and two sisters. Paul Behrens (1870–1949), Emanuel Behrens (1873–1949), Edit Thekla Ingeborg Behrens (1878–1881), Edit Charlotta Behrens (1882–1964). In other words, Isidor was the eldest of the siblings.

Biography

Behrens was the very first to compete for AIK, at the International Gymnastics and Sports Festival in Stockholm in May 1891 at Svea Livgarden's sports ground with 200 athletes as participants. Behrens and six other AIK members had signed up in various disciplines. Behrens was a short-distance runner. He competed in the 150 meters, but his time was not enough for the final place. Behrens then tried on many other sports within AIK, from kicking to

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...

, but he never won any really big successes as an active. It was as a leader and board member that he made a name for himself both within and outside AIK. After a short stay in

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40 000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköpin ...

in 1895, Behrens moved back to Stockholm, where he lived the rest of his life. From his father he had inherited his profession as a

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

and later became a registrar. In 1896 Behrens

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Anna Matilda. The couple never had any children together. In 1951, AIK prepared for its 60th anniversary. The then chairman

Putte Kock Rudolf "Putte" Kock (29 June 1901 – 31 October 1979) was a Swedish football, ice hockey and bridge player who won a bronze medal in the 1924 Summer Olympics as a football player, being voted the best left winger after the tournament. He also m ...

and the HS secretary Nils Yngwe Bolling met Behrens at the retirement home, Katarinahuset, by Sabbatsberg, where he lived for the last time in his life. He promised to come to the anniversary party in the Grand Hotel's mirror hall. In the autumn of the same year he died, 83 years old. His grave is found at

Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Cemetery" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables. Nota ...

Solna Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...

Memories of Behrens

Behrens is still one of AIK's foremost symbolic figures. To honor the memory of Isidor Behrens, AIK erected a new tombstone for the club's 100th anniversary. Where it has also undertaken to be responsible for the care of the burial site. Since November 6, 2016, a statue depicting Behrens and Putte Kock has been in place between

Friends Arena Nationalarenan, currently known as Friends Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the biggest stadium in ...

and

Mall of Scandinavia Westfield Mall of Scandinavia is a shopping mall located in Solna in Stockholm, Sweden. It was inaugurated on November 12, 2015, and is the second largest mall in the Nordic countries with 224 stores, many of them with double-height storefront ...

References

Swedish sports executives and administrators 1868 births 1951 deaths {{sweden-sport-bio-stub Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen