A person who in many ways has been of great significance to the Centrum för Näringslivshistoria has passed away. Professor Hans De Geer, Stockholm, died on June 10 at the age of 76. He leaves behind his wife Eva and sons Jonas, with daughters Emilia and Josefin, and Henrik with wife Karolina.

Hans earned his PhD in history in 1978 at Stockholm University with the dissertation Rationalization Movement in Sweden about the interwar period's ideas on social responsibility and efficiency. His subsequent endeavors included the Council for Business Management and Labor Life Issues (FA Council), and at the Stockholm School of Economics, he founded the Center for Ethics and Economics. Later, he worked as a consultant for Hallvarsson and Halvarsson.

In 1992, Hans De Geer was elected to the board of the Center for Business History (then: Stockholm Corporate Memories). For 23 years, he contributed to creating an enriching board environment until 2015 when he was elected honorary member. Hans contributed to our development from a focus on Stockholm to today being one of the world's leading organizations of its kind, where the history of companies from across the country is preserved and used for research, schools, and publishing activities.

Several of us had the privilege to know Hans De Geer both as an educator and researcher, with his reflective and sharp analyses combined with great knowledge in the broad field that business history constitutes. Hans's wisdom and kind temperament were also crucial when we reconstructed the operation in the late 1990s and later laid the foundation for the research part of our activities.

The writer Hans De Geer contributed to our publications, not least authoring the books Statens Spel and Vin & Sprit, från politik till marknad. Both are prime examples of careful research in archives and other sources. Towards the end, Hans worked on a manuscript about the ancestor Louis De Geer, which will hopefully be published.

We are grateful to have been able to share Hans's wisdom for so many years and will remember him warmly.

Alexander Husebye, CEO
Malin Alfredsson, Chair of the board
Rolf Åbjörnsson, Honorary Chairman
Leif Gidlöf, Former Chairman and Honorary Member