Nils Gustaf Dalén (1869 - 1937)

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

Nils Gustaf was born in Stenstorp parish 30 November 1869 to Anders Johansson in Skräddaregården and his wife Lovisa Gustava Andersdotter.^[1] He had two elder brothers and an elder sister who died in childhood.^[2] The family continued growing; Gustaf had a younger sister and brother.^[3]

As they grew up, all the five siblings adopted the name Dalén. It seems that the name was first used by Gustaf's maternal uncle Sven Gustaf Dalén, who was an engineer specialized in railway construction - although in the early 20th century Dalén was treated as a family name with deep roots on Gustav's mother's side. This remains to be checked. The inspiration for the name was clearly Dala, the pastorate where Gustaf's mother had her roots.

The elder brothers left home to get an education. All the Dalén siblings were still registered in their home parish while they were students.^[4] As for Gustaf himself, he did not show the same interest in studies - he shared his father's interest in farming improvements and agricultural machinery. His early education was in agriculture and gardening at local institutions in Västergötland. Gustaf Dalén was made responsible for the farm when he was 20 years old. However, his inventiveness led to contacts with the dairy machinery developer and industrialist Gustaf de Laval, who encouraged him to get a technical education.^[5]

Gustaf Dalén studied applied physics at Chalmers in Göteborg and took his engineering exam in 1896. He studied at the polytechnicum in Zürich in 1896-97.^[6]

Gustaf Dalén left home for good in 1898, to move to Göteborg.^[7][8] Here he worked on the development of a hot-air turbine. and founded the engineering company Dalen och Celsing^[5]

In 1900 he moved from Göteborg to Stockholm.^[9][10] He was to remain in the Stockholm area for the rest of his life, partcipating as a vital force in the industrial development of Sweden, notably the control and technical applications of industrial gases.

Engineer Nils Gustaf Dalén (resident in Stockholm) married miss Elma Axelia Persson in Munkabo Anders Larsgården 30 July 1901.^[11]

Nils Gustaf Dalén became more and more involved with AGA (AB Gasaccumulator) and became CEO of the company in 1909. He continued as CEO and inventor even after a serious accident in 1912.that made him blind.^[5]

He moved with his family to Villa Törnrosen on Lidingö in 1912^[12] - this was where the big new factory of AGA was situated. In 1912 he was also awarded the Nobel Prize in physics "for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys."^[13]

Direktör Nils Gustaf Dalén died on Lidingö 9 December 1937.^[14] He lies buried at Lidingö kyrkogård.^[15][16]

Sources

1. ↑ Stenstorps kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker, SE/GLA/13502/C/3 (1851-1880), bildid: A0019457_00078 Riksarkivet SVAR
2. ↑ Stenstorp (R) AI:12 (1861-1870) Bild 97 / Sida 90

   Arkiv Digital page info v19434.b97.s90 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

3. ↑ Stenstorp (R) AI:13 (1870-1876) Bild 98 / Sida 91

   Arkiv Digital page info v19437.b98.s91 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

4. ↑ Stenstorp (R) AI:14 (1876-1895) Bild 130 / Sida 125

   Arkiv Digital page info v19440.b130.s125 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} N. Gustaf Dalén, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av E. HUBENDICK 1931) online at riksarkivet.se, 2019-08-28.
6. ↑ Vem är det : Svensk biografisk handbok / 1925 / online at runeberg.org
7. ↑ Stenstorp (R) AII:1 (1895-1907) Bild 1810 / Sida 168

   Arkiv Digital page info v244153.b1810.s168 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

8. ↑ Göteborgs Domkyrkoförsamling (O) AIa:45 (1894-1899) Bild 55 / Sida 46

   Arkiv Digital page info v35221.b55.s46 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

9. ↑ Göteborgs Domkyrkoförsamling (O) AIIa:12 (1899-1909) Bild 51 / Sida 3147

   Arkiv Digital page info v82235a.b51.s3147 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

10. ↑ Överståthållarämbetet, Skatteverket. Rotemännens arkiv. Rote 7 Jakobsroten (A, AB) DIa:28 (1878-1926) Bild 40 / sid 2a (AID: v923242.b40.s2a)
11. ↑ Borgunda kyrkoarkiv, Lysnings- och vigselböcker, SE/GLA/13046/E/1 (1899-1945), bildid: 00098406_00007, sida 3 Riksarkivet SVAR
12. ↑ Lidingö (AB) AIIa:9 (1910-1918) Bild 3610 / Sida 2153

    Arkiv Digital page info v267946.b3610.s2153 | To page (paywall) | Riksarkivet

13. ↑ Physics Laureate Gustaf Dalen at nobelprize.org
14. ↑ Lidingö kyrkoarkiv, Död- och begravningsböcker, SE/SSA/1529/F I/6 (1934-1940), bildid: 00054114_00057, sida 53 Riksarkivet SVAR
15. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images accessed 29 August 2019), memorial page for Gustaf Dalén (30 Nov 1869–9 Dec 1937), Find A Grave: Memorial #8403, citing Lidingö Kyrkogård, Lidingo, Lidingö kommun, Stockholms län, Sweden ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
16. ↑ Obituary in Teknisk Tidskrift 1937. p. 543 online at runeberg.org

• Wikidata: Item Q160518