New book about
steel pioneer Pelle Söderberg

Research and author: Benito Peix Geldart
Editor: Karin Jansson Myhr
Image editor: Mikaela Nordin
Art director: <a href="http://www.illustratorcentrum.se/portfolio/patrik-sundstrom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rel="noopener">Patrik Sundström
Project manager: Anders Sjöman
Print: Livonia Print

A new book from Business History Publishing, “Stålpionjären”, tells the story of entrepreneur and steel pioneer Pelle Söderberg, a pivotal person in Sweden’s early industrialization and the founder of the Söderberg business family.

The entrepreneur and steel pioneer Pelle Söderberg was a tone-setting figure when industrialization and freedom of enterprise came to Sweden in the late 19th century. He was also one of Sweden’s first nationwide sales agents and launched an entirely new product, bessemer steel, on the Nordic market. In the modernized iron and steel industry, he quickly became a major player, and created the iron and steel wholesale firm Söderberg & Haak.

For the first time, the pioneer Pelle Söderberg’s time, life and work are depicted in a rich biography, based on previously unresearched sources. A story about one of Sweden’s first nationwide trade agents – and with it a depiction of how the country developed when industrialization and business freedom came in the late 1800s. The women who were important to Pelle’s life and development also appear. Meet the man who started the famous Söderberg business family.