The Most Famous

INVENTORS from Sweden

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This page contains a list of the greatest Swedish Inventors. The pantheon dataset contains 426 Inventors, 8 of which were born in Sweden. This makes Sweden the birth place of the 9th most number of Inventors behind China, and Hungary.

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Swedish Inventors of all time. This list of famous Swedish Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

Photo of Gideon Sundback

1. Gideon Sundback (1880 - 1954)

With an HPI of 74.85, Gideon Sundback is the most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 43 different languages on wikipedia.

Otto Fredrik Gideon Sundbäck (April 24, 1880 – June 21, 1954) was a Swedish-American electrical engineer, who is most commonly associated with his work in the development of the zipper.

Photo of John Ericsson

2. John Ericsson (1803 - 1889)

With an HPI of 63.33, John Ericsson is the 2nd most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive Novelty, which competed in the Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which were won by inventor George Stephenson's (1781–1848), Rocket. Later in North America, he designed the United States Navy's first screw-propelled steam-frigate USS Princeton, in partnership with Captain (later Commodore) Robert F. Stockton (1795–1866) of the U.S. Navy, who unjustly blamed him for a fatal accident on the new vessel in 1844. A new partnership with Cornelius H. DeLamater (1821–1889), of the DeLamater Iron Works in New York City resulted in the first armoured ironclad warship equipped with a rotating gun turret, USS Monitor, which dramatically saved the U.S. (Union Navy) naval blockading squadron from destruction by an ironclad Confederate States naval vessel, CSS Virginia, at the famous Battle of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (at the confluence of the James and Elizabeth Rivers) in March 1862, during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Photo of Ernst Alexanderson

3. Ernst Alexanderson (1878 - 1975)

With an HPI of 61.40, Ernst Alexanderson is the 3rd most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Ernst Frederick Werner Alexanderson (Swedish: [ɛʂnt alɛkˈsandɛʂɔn]; January 25, 1878 – May 14, 1975) was a Swedish-American electrical engineer and inventor who was a pioneer in radio development. He invented the Alexanderson alternator, an early radio transmitter used between 1906 and the 1930s for longwave long distance radio transmission. Alexanderson also created the amplidyne, a direct current amplifier used during the Second World War for controlling anti-aircraft guns.

Photo of Lars Magnus Ericsson

4. Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846 - 1926)

With an HPI of 60.81, Lars Magnus Ericsson is the 4th most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Lars Magnus Ericsson (Swedish pronunciation: [lɑːʂ ˈmǎŋːnɵs ˈêːrɪkˌsɔn] ; 5 May 1846 – 17 December 1926) was a Swedish inventor, entrepreneur and founder of telephone equipment manufacturer Ericsson (incorporated as Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson).

Photo of Nils Bohlin

5. Nils Bohlin (1920 - 2002)

With an HPI of 56.65, Nils Bohlin is the 5th most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Nils Ivar Bohlin (17 July 1920 – 26 September 2002) was a Swedish mechanical engineer and inventor who invented the three-point safety belt while working at Volvo.

Photo of Victor Hasselblad

6. Victor Hasselblad (1906 - 1978)

With an HPI of 56.05, Victor Hasselblad is the 6th most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Victor Hasselblad (8 March 1906 – 5 August 1978) was a Swedish inventor and photographer, known for inventing the Hasselblad 6x6 cm medium format camera.

Photo of Sven Gustaf Wingqvist

7. Sven Gustaf Wingqvist (1876 - 1953)

With an HPI of 55.58, Sven Gustaf Wingqvist is the 7th most famous Swedish Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sven Gustaf Wingqvist (10 December 1876 – 17 April 1953) was a Swedish engineer, inventor, and industrialist, and one of the founders of Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF), one of the world's leading ball bearing and roller bearing makers. Sven Wingqvist invented the multi-row self-aligning ball bearing in 1907.

Photo of Simone Giertz

8. Simone Giertz (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 39.47, Simone Giertz is the 8th most famous Swedish Inventor.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Simone Luna Louise Söderlund Giertz ( YETSH; Swedish: [ˈjæʈːʂ]; born 1 November 1990) is a Swedish inventor, maker, robotics enthusiast, TV host, and professional YouTuber. She has also previously worked in mixed martial arts sports journalism and was an editor for Sweden's official website Sweden.se.

People

Pantheon has 8 people classified as Swedish inventors born between 1803 and 1990. Of these 8, 1 (12.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Swedish inventors include Simone Giertz. The most famous deceased Swedish inventors include Gideon Sundback, John Ericsson, and Ernst Alexanderson. As of April 2024, 8 new Swedish inventors have been added to Pantheon including Gideon Sundback, John Ericsson, and Ernst Alexanderson.

Living Swedish Inventors

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Deceased Swedish Inventors

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Newly Added Swedish Inventors (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Inventors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Inventors since 1700.