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THE BEIJER FOUNDATION

THE BEIJER FOUNDATION

THE FOUNDATION PROMOTES SCIENCE, RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND CULTURE.


THE BEIJER FOUNDATION was founded in 1974 through a donation from Kjell and Märta Beijer. As per the statutes, the Beijer Foundation primarily promotes scientific research in Sweden. The Foundation also contributes to education and teaching and promotes culture, especially in design and interior design, but has also over the years supported activities and projects in music, arts, crafts, history, and literature.

The Beijer Foundation owns the company Svenskt Tenn and the surplus from Svenskt Tenn is an important contribution to the foundation’s distribution of grants. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed approximately SEK 555 million.

Read more about the largest and most important grants under Partners”.

HISTORY

THE BEIJER FOUNDATION WAS FOUNDED IN 1974 THROUGH A DONATION FROM KJELL AND MÄRTA BEIJER.


KJELL AND MÄRTA BEIJER founded the Beijer Foundation through a donation in 1974. Since its establishment, their foundation has contributed to scientific research and culture in Sweden for more than four decades.

Kjell and Märta first met at Svenskt Tenn. Ms. Märta Sahlqvist (Later Mrs. Märta Beijer) served as a business assistant to the founder of Svenskt Tenn, Estrid Ericson. One day, Kjell Beijer visited the store. He had just bought an apartment and needed help decorating it. Märta was the one to assist him, and that was the start of their relationship. The couple married in 1941 and settled at the Säby Estate in Järna, where Anders Wall's uncle worked as a manager. That is how Anders Wall met Kjell Beijer at the early age of eleven, although at the time no one could have guessed what the future would bring.

Kjell Beijer was born in 1899 into a family that had long experience in trade and shipping, not least with the trading house G&L Beijer. In 1915, Kjell Beijer's uncle, Waldemar Beijer, founded a Stockholm branch of the trading house, which much later was to become Beijerinvest.

In the early 1920’s, Kjell Beijer got a job with his uncle in Stockholm, and quickly advanced to cashier director. The branch became an independent company with Kjell Beijer as the main owner. The company traded in industrial goods such as coal, chemicals, and steel. For a long period, G&L Beijer was the Swedish agent for the Luxembourg-based steelworks group Arbed.

In 1964, Anders Wall became the CEO of G&L Beijer Stockholm with Kol och Koks (coal trade). He had worked for 10 years in various positions at the company. During Anders Wall's management, G&L Beijer sold off the coal trade, and developed the company into Sweden's leading business in the construction material trade. In 1967, the company changed its name to Beijerinvest. One of several significant deals was the purchase of the listed company Pribo, which had interests in Pripps breweries and the food trade, and also held a large stock market portfolio. The shares that Kjell Beijer owned in Beijerinvest thus came to represent a considerable fortune.

IN 1964, ANDERS WALL BECAME CEO OF G&L BEIJER STOCKHOLM WITH KOL OCH KOKS.

Kjell and Märta Beijer did not have children. After advice from Anders Wall and Stig Ramel, the CEO of the Nobel Foundation, they decided in 1974 to donate a large part of their fortune to the Foundation that was named the Kjell and Märta Beijers Foundation (The Beijer Foundation). Kjell Beijer was very interested in agriculture and natural sciences, which is why the Foundation promotes research in these areas. Thanks to Stig Ramel, strong ties were developed with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Karolinska Institutet.

In 1975, the Foundation acquired all shares in Svenskt Tenn directly from the company's founder, Estrid Ericson. Thus, the Foundation's focus was broadened to support culture, such as architecture, design and creative education - spheres connected to Svenskt Tenn.

Kjell Beijer was Chairman, and later Honorary Chairman of the Foundation until his death in 1987. Märta Beijer died in 2002 at the age of 101. Anders Wall was appointed permanent member when the Foundation was founded in 1974, and succeeded Kjell Beijer as Chairman in 1988. This is an assignment in which he still finds great joy and that the Beijer Foundation is proud and deeply grateful for.