Anders Joachim Kurtén (15 January 1836–28 June 1899) was born in

Kronoby Kronoby (, ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Kronoby is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kronoby is approximately , while the Jakobs ...

into the family of sea captain Henrik Kurtén. In 1841 the family moved to

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),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 ...

after which he went to work as a clerk for businessman A.A. Levón back in Vaasa. In 1861 he became Levóns business partner. Joachim Kurtén became a prominent figure in Vaasa, where he founded several companies and had a distinguished career in banking. He chaired the city council for almost twenty years and was the speaker of the Burghers in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

’s then legislature, the four-estates Diet. The fact that the railroad extends to Vaasa is supposed to be the work of Joachim Kurtén.

References

* * 1836 births 1899 deaths 19th-century businesspeople from the Russian Empire People from Kronoby Swedish-speaking Finns Members of the Diet of Finland 19th-century Finnish businesspeople Finnish bankers {{Finland-bio-stub