Ninni Kronberg facts for kids

Maria Johanna "Ninni" Kronberg (1874–1946) was a Swedish inventor. She is best known for inventing a special way to make powdered milk in 1933. This invention was so important that it led to the creation of a big food company called Semper AB.

Ninni Kronberg's Early Life

Ninni Kronberg was born in Gävle, Sweden, in 1874. Her parents were Viktor Berggren and Caroline Louise Stuart. She was taught at home by governesses and did not go to high school. In 1896, when she was 22, Ninni married Erik Kronberg, who was a wholesaler. They lived well in Gävle and had a large home. Ninni enjoyed many hobbies like handicrafts, painting, sailing, and traveling. Erik Kronberg took over his father's business in 1901. It became a company called A.B. Kronbergs Maltfabrik in 1915. Ninni helped her husband with the business. However, the business went bankrupt in 1922. Ninni and Erik divorced in 1925. After this, Ninni Kronberg moved to the Rydsgård estate in Skåne to live with her friend Gudrun Juel-Westrup and her husband, Wilhelm Westrup, who was a diplomat.

Her Inventions: Making Powdered Milk

While at the Rydsgård estate, Ninni Kronberg invented a special kind of yeast agent. She started a company with the Westrups called AB Practic Comp Ltd to sell her new product. After more research, Ninni Kronberg received her first patent in 1927. She then worked on developing a milk serum. This was a big step towards her most famous invention: a way to make long-lasting powdered milk. In 1934, after several years of work, Ninni Kronberg submitted a patent for an even better method to produce powdered milk that would last a long time. In 1937, the Swedish Ministry of Agriculture gave her 25,000 Swedish Krona for her invention. Axel Wenner-Gren, who founded the company Electrolux, saw how useful Kronberg's powdered milk could be. In 1938, he created a company called Svenska Mjölkprodukter AB (SMP) to make Ninni Kronberg's powdered milk. SMP built a factory in Kimstad, and production started on September 1, 1939. Even though World War 2 began around this time, stopping exports, the factory made powdered milk for Sweden's emergency food supply. This helped the company get a good start. During the 1940s, Ninni Kronberg had some legal problems. She sued a private bank and an estate owner for trying to take her contract with Svenska Mjölkprodukter AB. The court decided that Kronberg was right.

Death and Lasting Impact

Ninni Kronberg passed away on October 1, 1949, when she was 75 years old. In 1963, SMP changed its name to Semper. Today, Semper still makes powdered milk and baby food. The company has said that Ninni Kronberg's amazing invention was the very foundation of their business.

See also

In Spanish: Ninni Kronberg para niños