Wenner-Gren, Axel Leonard (1881–1961)

Swedish industrialist who founded the Electrolux Company 1921, manufacturing electrical appliances, and developed a monorail system.

Wenner-Gren was born in Uddevalla, educated in Germany, and began his career working for the Swedish Electric Lamp Company, where he eventually became a majority shareholder. In 1921 he founded the Electrolux Company to manufacture vacuum cleaners and, later, refrigerators. He then acquired one of country's largest wood-pulp mills and the Bofors munition works. From the profits, he donated a large sum for the foundation of an institute for the development of scientific research in Sweden, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Nordic Cooperation and Research.

Wenner-Gren's monorail, the Alweg line, consisted of a concrete beam carried on concrete supports. The cars straddled the beam on rubber-tyred wheels, and there were also horizontal wheels in two rows on each side of the beam. The system was used, for example, for the 13.3-km/8.3-mi line in Japan from Tokyo to Haneda Airport.