Ernst Abraham Dahlström (26 March 1846 – 16 January 1924) was a Finnish businessman and philanthropist. Dahlström inherited his father's position as manager of trading house C.M. Dahlström. His younger brother Magnus Dahlström joined in soon after. The brothers made significant donations to their home town

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

. Dahlström worked as manager of Kymi Papermill in 1873–1904 and board member of the subsequent Kymin Oy. He developed the Finnish insurance sector and

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

. Dahlström also had a significant role in development of Turku shipbuilding industry.

Career

Dahlström studied in Behm German school in Viipuri and did his internship in Hackman & Co. in the same city. He returned in Turku in 1869 to work as bookkeeper in his father's company,

trading house Trading companies are businesses working with different kinds of products which are sold for consumer, business, or government purposes. Trading companies buy a specialized range of products, maintain a stock or a shop, and deliver products to cus ...

C.M. Dahlström. He got

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

rights in the following year. In 1872 Dahlström took leadership of the trading house, after his father fell ill. The trading house had investments in industry and shipping, and under young Dahlström's leadership the trading house invested increasingly on industrial companies. His younger brother Magnus became a co-manager in 1881, after finishing his studies in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. The brothers worked closely to each other and it is difficult to distinguish the originator of each project. Also their spouses were siblings: Ernst was married to 1853-born Rosina Sofia Julin in 1875; Magnus Dahlström married her younger sister Ellen Maria Julin. The father of the Julin sisters was consul John Julin. In 1873 just 27-year-old Ernst Dahlström became the first manager of Kymi Papermill. Kymi papermill was the most important investment of the trading house. After the company merged with Voikkaa and Kuusankoski papermills in 1904, creating Kymin Oy, the trading house remained a major owner in the company and Dahlström continued as board member. The head office remained in Turku and a part of the time Dahlström worked at factory located in

Kuusankoski Kuusankoski is a neighbourhood of city of Kouvola, former industrial town and List of former municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland, located in the region of Kymenlaakso in the province of Southern Finland. The population of Kuusan ...

. Dahlström held management positions also in number of other companies, such as

Akaa Akaa () is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on 1 January 2007, when the town of Toijala and the town of Viiala were united into a single municipality. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated with Akaa o ...

and Vartsala steam

sawmills A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimens ...

, Aura

sugar factory Sugar factory may refer to: Industry * Beet sugar factory, a factory that produces raw sugar from sugar beet and refines it * Sugarcane mill, a factory that produces raw sugar from sugar cane and refines it * Sugar refinery A sugar refine ...

, and Turku engineering and shipbuilding companies Åbo Mekaniska Verkstads, the subsequent Ab Vulcan and also W:m Crichton & C:o. He was a founding member of Åbo Aktiebank in 1896 and member of

Bank of Finland The Bank of Finland (, ) is the national central bank for Finland within the Eurosystem. It was the Finnish central bank from 1865 to 1998, issuing the markka. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Swed ...

discount committee. In 1905 the brothers founded steam shipping company Transito Ab which focused on timber and coal transportation. It was the first major cargo steam shipping company in Turku. The Dahlström brothers participated in founding insurance companies Fennia and Verdandi in 1905 and two years later in

Sampo In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways, constructed by the blacksmith and inventor Ilmarinen and which brings riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (corn ...

. They worked in those for a short time in management positions.

Political career

Dahlström was member of the

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

in 1885, 1888, 1891, 1897, 1899 and 1904–1905. He was

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

lor in Turku in 1875–1894.

Philanthropy

The brothers were theatre and art patrons and in the 1890s they started donating significant sums to their home city, Turku. In 1895 the brothers donated 150 000

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

for art museum building. The

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

-made

Turku Art Museum Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while the metropolitan area ...

planned by

Gustaf Nyström Gustaf Nyström (21 January 1856 – 30 December 1917) was a Finnish architect. Nyström has been described as one of the most important architects in Finland at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He was active bot ...

was built on Puolalanmäki and inaugurated in April 1904. In 1912 the brothers saved the Swedish-speaking theatre from financial trouble; the theatre was renamed

Åbo Svenska Teater Åbo Svenska Teater () is a Finland-Swedish theatre in the city of Turku in Finland and the oldest theatre in the country, founded in 1839. The building itself is also the oldest still functioning theatre house in Finland. The name means "The Swe ...

in 1919. Donations by Dahlström brothers had an important role in 1919 at founding

Åbo Akademi Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while the metropolitan area ...

, the Swedish speaking university of Turku. While the art museum and university were the most significant donations, the brothers also supported individual students and public health work. Their actions also inspired other donors.

Family

Ernst and Rosina Dahlström had two sons and daughter: Carl-Johan Dahlström (1876–1935), Greta Dahlström (1877–1902) and Erik Abraham Dahlström (1879–1943).

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahlstrom, Ernst Businesspeople from the Grand Duchy of Finland Finnish businesspeople Crichton-Vulcan Businesspeople from Turku 1846 births 1924 deaths