Samuel Eyde (29 October 1866 – 21 June 1940) was a Norwegian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. He was the founder of both

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

and Elkem.

Personal life

Eyde was born in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

in Aust-Agder, Norway. He was a son of ship-owner Samuel Eyde (1819–1902) and his wife Elina Christine Amalie Stephansen (1829–1906). He was a first cousin of Alf Scott-Hansen on the maternal side. In August 1895 he married Countess Ulla Mörner (1873–1961), but the marriage was dissolved in 1912. In February 1913 he married actress Elly Simonsen (1885–1960).

Career

Eyde studied engineering in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where he graduated in 1891. He started his career in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, working with the railways where he planned new lines, bridges and stations. In 1897 he started the engineering firm Gleim & Eyde with his previous boss from

. He soon established offices in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(now Oslo) and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. By the turn of the century the firm was one of the largest in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, with some 30 engineers. In 1902, Eyde acquired control over Rjukan Falls in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

. He also held rights to waterfalls at Arendal and

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

. Eyde planned to use the hydropower for industrial purposes. In 1905 Rjukan Falls was producing hydro electrical power for

Potassium nitrate Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nit ...

production. This led to the development of the town of

Rjukan Rjukan () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Tinn Municipality. The town is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, between the lakes Møsvatn ...

as an industrial centre. In 1912 Eyde contributed to the development of Arendal Smelteverk at Eydehavn for the production of

silicon carbide Silicon carbide (SiC), also known as carborundum (), is a hard chemical compound containing silicon and carbon. A wide bandgap semiconductor, it occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite, but has been mass-produced as a powder a ...

. The plant is now part of the Norwegian company Fiven ASA and one of the oldest silicon carbide producing plants worldwide. In 1903, Eyde met with

Kristian Birkeland Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland (born 13 December 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a Norway, Norwegian space physics, space physicist, inventor, and professor of physics at the University of Oslo, Royal Fredriks University in Oslo. He is best remembe ...

, who was a scientist, inventor and professor of physics at the University of Christiania. Birkeland was working on developing an

electric arc An electric arc (or arc discharge) is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The electric current, current through a normally Electrical conductance, nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma ( ...

, while Eyde had recently bought the rights to several waterfalls in Telemark. They agreed to cooperate to develop an electric flame. This allowed Eyde to establish Det Norske Aktieselskap for Eletrokemisk Industri (today Elkem) along with members of the

Wallenberg family The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish family of bankers, industrialists, politicians, bureaucrats and diplomats, present in most large Swedish industrial groups, including EQT AB, Ericsson, Electrolux, ABB, SAS Group, SKF, Atlas Copco, ...

who he had met in Sweden. The factory at

opening on 2 May 1905. In 1905 he founded Norsk Hydro-Elektrisk Kvælstofaktieselskab (now

). Eyde remained director-general of both companies. He was director-general of Norsk Hydro until 1917. He was offered a position on the board, where he remained until 1925, and a compensation of for ten years, and for the rest of his life. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament in the period 1918–1920. In 1920, Eyde was appointed as Norwegian Minister to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Gallery

File:Birkeland-Eyde lysbue.JPG, Birkeland–Eyde arc furnace displayed at Kjelsås File:Birkeland–Eyde furnace 1905.jpg, Birkeland–Eyde furnace exhibited in Notodden File:Pelton turbine and electric arc furnace.jpg, Pelton turbine runner and nozzle of a Birkeland–Eyde electric arc furnace exhibited in Rjukan File:Rjukan electric arc furnace.jpg, Birkeland–Eyde electric arc furnace exhibited in a park in Rjukan

References

Other sources

* Grimnes, Ole Kristian (2001) ''Sam Eyde: den grenseløse gründer'' (Oslo: Aschehoug)

External links