Swedish inventors
Is an inventor a special kind of person? We believe that everyone can be creative. On this page we tell the stories of some of the many swedish inventors. Certain inventors are world-famous, others are less known to the general public.
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and held the patent for 355 inventions. Alfred Nobel's will instituted the Nobel Prize, the most famous prize in the world.
Amalia Eriksson was a poor widow who opened a bakery in Gränna in 1859. She invented the polkagris candy stick, which would became a great succe
Anders Celsius is perhaps best known for his Celsius temperature scale, which is used in thermometers throughout the world.
Carl Daniel Ekman invented the sulphite process, a cheap way of producing paper from wood pulp so paper could be produced on a massive scale.
Carl Edvard Johansson invented a set of steel pieces for measurement that became world famous and that created modern industry .
Carl Richard Nyberg was born in 1858 and invented the blowtorch in 1882, which allowed him to amass a fortune.
Christopher Polhem was an industrialist and inventor way ahead of his time. One of his most famous inventions is the Mechanichal Alphabet.
Emanuel Swedenborg was one of the greatest scientists of his time. He published several sketches for groundbreaking inventions, including an early aircraft.
Eva de la Gardie was the first woman to become a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences based on a method to produce alcohol using potatoes.
Göran Fredrik Göransson founded the Swedish steel industry. He developed and improved Henry Bessemer´s method for making steel.
Gustaf Dalén registered a total of 99 patents during his lifetime. He invented revolutionary systems for beacon lighting.
Gustaf de Laval was a productive inventor. The steam turbine, the milk-cream separator and the milk-skimming machine were his most famous inventions.
During his long life, Johan Petter Johansson held no less than 110 patents. Two of the inventions were the pipe wrench and the adjustable spanner.
John Ericsson was the pioneer of the propeller and the armoured ship. Born in Sweden, he later became a national hero in the US and an American citizen.
Lars Magnus Ericsson become world famous for his major contributions to the development of the Telephone and founded the telephone company Ericsson.
Maria Christina Bruhn, Sweden’s first female inventor in the field of military technology, improved the design of powder charges for cannons – cartouches.
Maria Johanna “Ninni” Kronberg was a Swedish inventor. Her patent for powdered milk formed the foundation for the baby-food company Semper AB.
Samuel Owen, born in the UK and considered the “Founder of the Swedish mechanical industry" and a Swedish steamboat pioneer.
Sven Wingquist founded a whole industry. Spherical ball bearings, on which he took out a patent in 1907, conquered the world.
The Lundström brothers created the world-famous safety match, that are still referred to as Swedish matches in a lot of countries to this day.
In 1899, Waldemar Jungner patented a battery that could run under extreme conditions. The company founded by Waldemar Jungner is still operating today.
Willgodt Theophil Odhner was an inventor and engineer. He invented a calculator and founded a factory in St. Petersburg in 1880.
Last updated 8 May 2023.