Victor Theodor Engwall

Victor Theodor Engwall (24 July 1827 - 28 February 1908) was a Swedish industrialist, merchant and philanthropist. He founded Vict. Th. Engwall & Co, predecessor to Gevalia, the largest coffee brand in Sweden.

Biography

Engwall was born on 24 July 1827 in Gävle, Gävleborg County, Sweden. He was the son of blacksmith and inventor Jonas Olofsson Engwall and his wife Christina Bollner. At age seven he was admitted to the first standardised school in Stockholm, and soon after was also admitted to a private school, Kongl. sekter Kindblad's privatskola. In that time period, Engwall's family moved to Karlberg Palace, near Stockholm.

In 1844, Engwall's mother died. His father Jonas Engwall relocated and remarried.

In 1845, Engwall parted ways with Otto Dahl through an "amicable agreement".

In 1853, Engwall opened a trade house in Consul Wilhelm Eckell's yard. The name of the trade house was "Victor Th. Engwalls Handelshus i Gefle" (English: Victor Th. Engwall's Tradehouse in Gefle), and it opened under the company named Vict. Th. Engwall & Co KB in Gävle.

Christina Euphrosyne Engwall (1826 - 1905), by von oleschewsky, A.

In 1854, Victor Engwall married Christina Euphrosyne Norberg. Christina was the daughter of Lars Norberg, a coachman, and his wife Lundmark.

Initially, Engwall's general trading company sold manufactures, fine china, and various miscellaneous goods. Within three years he decided to primarily focus on colonial goods and foodstuffs. The trade house was successful in selling brandy, and in Gävle there is an anecdote (have you sold too much brandy?) attributed to Christina Engwall once commenting "It never goes well for us, you have sold too much brandy!". This commissions based trade later became the primary focus of the company. In 1860, Engwall's general trading company ceased operations. By 1861, Engwall sourced common goods from Stockholm and Southern Sweden. He also imported colonial goods from Germany and Holland.

The Engwall's profited from the absence of railway and infrastructure in Norrland during the 1850s.

Engwall is said to have promoted the alight due to the selected station for alight was located on the Valskvarn Co estate, a company Engwall had acquired in 1856, the same year he announced the financing for the project.

In 1863, Engwall acquired a property located at Vastra Drottninggatan. The property served as the operational base for the business and accommodated residences, offices, stables, storage facilities and warehouses. In the the estate burned down.

After the fire, Engwall resided at the family's summer residence, Lyckan. In 1870, the family decided to relocate to Stockholm. The family considered transferring the company's operations to the capital and had discussed acquiring the Wallenberg family's house on Kungsgrädgardsgatan.

Engwall operated Gävle's last match factory between 1869 and 1878. He had acquired the match factory in 1869 prior to the Gävle city fire for 25,000 Riksdaler.