Lars Magnus Ericsson

Lars Magnus Ericsson was born on May 5, 1846, in Värmskog, Värmland. After working as a blacksmith, railway miner, and instrument-maker for the Swedish Telegraph Administration, he studied electrotechnology in Germany and Switzerland under Siemens & Halske.

In April 1876, Ericsson opened a small mechanical workshop in Stockholm repairing telegraphs. When Alexander Graham Bell's telephone arrived in Scandinavia, Ericsson immediately recognized its flaws and produced superior transmitters and handsets. In 1884, he designed the world's first handset combining both receiver and transmitter into a single portable unit ('the bone'). By 1900, his company was equipping telephone exchanges worldwide from St. Petersburg to Mexico City, transforming Sweden into the most telephone-dense nation on earth. He requested to be buried in an unmarked grave to signify humility.