Wilhelm Tham

Wilhelm Tham (cover picture of var 8 dag no. 43/1906)

Gustaf Wilhelm Sebastian Tham , (born September 5, 1839 in Samueldal near Falun ; † August 2, 1911 in Huskvarna ), was a Swedish industrialist and member of the Swedish Diet . Tham was director of Husqvarna Vapenfabriks AB from 1877 .

Life

After graduating in 1855, Tham practiced at Motala Verkstad from 1860 to 1862 and then continued his training at several shipyards and machine factories abroad. From 1870 to 1874 he again held a position as an engineer at Motala. He then moved to Huskvarna Vapenfabriks AB as director . Under his leadership, the armaments business of the company was consolidated and expanded, especially in the areas of hunting weapons and the manufacture of ovens , stoves , sewing machines and bicycles . From 1883 he had a major influence on the construction of the Jönköping – Gripenberg railway .

Tham represented the constituency of Jönköpings län in the first chamber of the Swedish Reichstag from 1887 to 1891 , was the Swedish representative of the workplace congresses in Berlin in 1890 and Brussels in 1897, became a member in 1899 and from 1900 chairman of the arbitration and arbitration committee. In 1905 he was a member of the negotiating commission for the trade agreement between Sweden and Germany.

In 1901 he donated money to build the church in Huskvarna, which was inaugurated in 1908. Tham paid about half of the total cost of almost 50,000 crowns . Together with his wife, he also donated money to build a sports center , which opened in 1910. In the area of urban development in Huskvarna, he pushed through the development to the north. There is a monument to Tham in the park next to the sports hall, and his tombstone can be found in the Huskvarna cemetery .

The ship MS Wilhelm Tham , which was built in 1912 and operates on the Göta Canal, is named after Wilhelm Tham .

literature

• Gustaf Vilhelm Sebastian Tham . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 28 : Syrten-vikarna – Tidsbestämning . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1919, Sp. 1042 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).