BACKGROUND

Eva and Hans Bang

The businessman Hans Bang (1892-1983) exemplified the wave of immigrants who recognized the business opportunities in Finland at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century.

Hans Bang arrived in Finland in 1912 from Norway. He did an internship at Aktiebolaget W. Gutzeit & Co in Kotka, a company founded by the Norwegian Hans Gutzeit in 1872.

The stay was intended to last only for half a year, but turned into a lifelong one. After four years in Kotka, Hans Bang worked for a while in Moscow, followed by periods of work in Spain, Italy, and the USA. He returned to Finland in the autumn of 1920 and accepted a position at Baltiska Handels A.B. as the managing director.

In 1927, Hans Bang founded the company Bang & Co Aktiebolag, which primarily imported and sold chemicals and raw materials, as well as to some extent, machinery.

During the interwar period, and particularly in the post-war rebuilding phase of the late 1940s and 1950s, Bang & Co Aktiebolag underwent substantial growth, emerging as a prominent and influential market player in Finland. In an era characterized by limited language proficiency, the absence of email, significant currency exchange restrictions, and tightly regulated imports, a high level of expertise was crucial – an expertise that Hans Bang undoubtedly possessed. Without companies like Bang & Co Aktiebolag, the Finnish industry would have failed to meet the expectations caused by the war reparations and the need to build a modern Finland, the society we know and find so natural today.

Hans Bang comprehensively oversaw his company. His son Olof Bang took care of the finances, while outsiders were generally appointed as managing directors. Nevertheless, it was never unclear who made the major, and sometimes quite challenging, decisions.

Until his final years, Hans Bang continued to visit the office and served as a role model for both the management and the staff. He was admired by his colleagues and held in high regard within the business sector of Finland where industrial chemicals, foreign raw materials, and machinery formed the essential components of the business operations.

After Hans Bang, his son Olof Bang took over as chairman of the board, and the business continued according to the strategic directives set by Hans Bang. Olof Bang often traveled to the countries where the family company had business dealings.

When Olof Bang passed away in 1990, he left behind a will stipulating that a portion of his wealth should establish a foundation called the Hans Bang Foundation, whose purpose is to promote scientific research related to the economic sciences, and support for developing countries, a cause that was close to his heart.

In this way, the son wished to consolidate the memory of his father, an international businessman with an interest in trade with distant countries and other cultures, essentially embodying a true globalist.

Bang & Co Aktiebolag is no longer owned by the Bang family, and the company has no connection to this foundation either. Bang & Co Aktiebolag has merged with another company in the same industry.

Hans Bang's efforts to internationalize and diversify the Finnish business community, particularly in the field of industrial chemicals, continue through this foundation. Olof Bang's noble intention to honor his father’s memory stands as an illustration of the cultural values significant to the Bang family.

ACTIVITY

The purpose of the foundation is, according to section 2 of its article of association, to promote scientific research in connection with:

a) business administration

b) the development of global trade

This purpose is achieved through the foundation’s awarding of personal scholarships.