Erik Johann Ljungberg
Erik Johann Ljungberg ( -1915)
1915 Obituary [1]
ERIK JOHANN LJUNGBERG, Hon. Vice-President of the Iron and Steel Institute, died on April 5, 1915, at Stockholm, at the age of seventy-two. He was born on March 4, 1843, at Hammarn, in Grythytlepain, in the province of Orebro. His family were closely connected with mining; he grew up in a mining district, and entered early upon the career in which he was destined to attain such a prominent position. Having passed through the Filipstad Mining College, he held several posts, until, in 1875, he was called to take over the management of Stora Kopparbergs Bergslag, one of the largest industrial concerns in Sweden, of which he became the managing director when it was transformed into a limited company. He retired on June 14, 1913, with the most ample recognition of his excellent services.
Mr. Ljungberg's connection with the Stora Kopparbergs Bergslag was marked by the continuous enterprise and expansion of the Domnarf vet Iron Works, which under his management has become one of the most famous in the world. The Skutskar saw-mills also owed their existence to his initiative, as well as the sulphite factory and the Kvarnsveden paper-mills, the rolling-mills at Domnarfvet, and the Bullerfors and Mockfjord hydro-electric power-stations.
He was in many respects the pioneer of Sweden's iron and other industries, and was the first to take in hand the experiments in electric iron-ore smelting, which were carried on at Domnarfvet, where this process is now being installed on a large scale. He also took the lead in the matter of utilising the residues from the sulphite manufactures, and he was also much interested in the problem of using sulphite spirit for motor purposes. The Ljungberg charcoal furnace was another outcome of his initiative, its purpose being the utilisation of auxiliary products.
He was also President of the Industrial Union of Sweden. and Vice-President of the Swedish Waterfalls Union.
On the occasion of his retirement, the Stora Kopparbergs Company presented him with an address of thanks, encased in a casket of gold from the company's mines, in which, amongst other things, it was pointed out that the turnover then was six times what it had been when he joined it, and that the net profits during the same time had increased fourteen-fold. The company on the same occasion formed a fund of £11,000, the interest of which, according to Dr.
Ljungberg's wish, is to be applied to the advancement of the sale of mining products abroad through the instrumentality of the company's workmen, foremen, and officials.
He was a model employer. He took great care of his workpeople in every way, and instituted for them good housing accommodation, practical schooling for the children, and housewifery for their wives and daughters. It was owing to his interest and generosity that the Falun Mining College became possessed of a handsome new building.
He also gave large sums to national and high schools of the district.
Many distinctions were conferred upon him. He was a member both of the Swedish Academy of Science and of the Academy of Agriculture; he held the great gold medal of Jernkontoret, and in 1909 received the degree of Honorary Doctor of Philosophy of the Stockholm University. He was a Grand Commander of the Order of Vasa, and was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1880, and an Honorary Vice-President in 1909. He was a frequent attendant at the meetings of the Institute, and in August 1898, when the Autumn Meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was held in Stockholm, Mr. Ljungberg, who occupied a prominent position in the reception committee, welcomed the members to Falun and personally conducted them over the company's works and mines.