Abba — a Swedish pop group founded in 1972 that found major success in the 1970s and early ’80s. Their international breakthrough came at the Eurovision Song Contest of 1974, which they won with the song Waterloo.
Anders Celsius — an astronomer and the inventor of the centigrade thermometer. For his meteorological observations, he constructed his world-famous Celsius thermometer, with 0° as the boiling point and 100° as the freezing point of water. After his death in 1744 the scale was reversed to its present form. In Celsius’ day, an Astronomy professor’s work included geographical measurements, meteorological observations and other matters considered to be outside the scope of the subject today.
Alfred Nobel — the founder of the Nobel Prize, the world’s most prestigious academic distinction. Nobel Prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature are awarded in Stockholm (Sweden) and the Peace Prize in Oslo (Norway) every year. Nobel Laureates also visit some of the Swedish universities to hold open lectures.
Björn Borg — a World No. 1 tennis player who won 11 Grand Slam singles titles, including five at Wimbledon, in 1974–81.
Rune Elmqvist — developer of the first implantable pacemaker in 1958. Elmqvist worked initially as a medical doctor, but later as an engineer and inventor.
Lars Magnus Ericsson — a Swedish inventor and founder of Ericsson, the telephone-equipment manufacturer. Today, Ericsson is a world-leading supplier of telecommunications equipment and related services to mobile and fixed network operators worldwide. Over 1,000 networks in 140 countries use Ericsson’s network equipment and 40 per cent of all mobile calls are made through its systems.
Ingvar Kamprad — founder (in 1943) of IKEA, a home-furnishing retailer that sells low-price household products, including furniture, accessories, bathrooms and kitchens, at its stores around the world and online.
Astrid Lindgren — a children’s book author and screenwriter (d. 2002). Her books include the Pippi Longstocking series. Many have been translated into up to 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries.
Carolus Linnaeus — one of the best-known Swedes worldwide. By the age of 30, he had written several of the works, including Systema Naturæ, that made him famous in the scientific world. In this work, Linnaeus laid the foundations of an entirely new classification of plants, based on their reproductive physiology. Linnaeus’ renowned taxonomic (naming) system is still the international standard. He established an extensive international network of contacts and discussed his work constantly with colleagues around the world.
Sven Wingquist — inventor of the industrial ball bearing. Wingquist founded SKF in 1907, and this company is the leading supplier of products, customer solutions and services in the roller-bearing business and a leading supplier of industrial seals worldwide. The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), now includes SKF as an index component in the ‘Industrial Goods and Services’ sector.