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Nils Gustaf Erik Stemme (1921–2007)

Basic Information

  • Full name: Nils Gustaf Erik Stemme (born Andersson)
  • Known as: Erik Stemme
  • Born: 21 October 1921, Halmstad (some sources say Falkenberg), Sweden
  • Died: 10 June 2007 (aged 85), Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Nationality: Swedish
  • Fields: Electrical engineering, computer engineering, memory technology, inkjet printing

Family

  • Father of Goran Stemme (professor at KTH, noted for MEMS research)
  • Great-uncle of Nina Stemme (internationally acclaimed opera soprano)

Education

  • Chalmers University of Technology – civilingenjor (M.Sc. equivalent) in electrical engineering (1946)

The 1947 American Study Mission

In 1947, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), under mentor Stig Ekelof, selected five promising young Swedish researchers for state-funded scholarships to study early computer development in the United States. Stemme was among the five chosen.

In the US, Stemme worked at RCA Laboratories on selectron tubes (an early memory technology) and trained at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he joined John von Neumann’s research group working on the IAS machine. This experience gave him direct exposure to the architecture that would later form the blueprint for Sweden’s own electronic computer.

Career Timeline

Period Position Institution
1946–~1950 Engineer FOA (Swedish Defence Research Institute), Stockholm
1947–1948 Study scholarship in the USA RCA Labs / IAS Princeton (von Neumann’s group)
~1950–1953 Chief hardware developer for BESK Matematikmaskinnamnden (Swedish Board for Computing Machinery), KTH
1953–1956 Bureau director Matematikmaskinnamnden
1956–1963 Chief engineer, electronics division Atvidabergs Industrier / Facit Electronics, Stockholm (later Solna)
1963–retirement Professor of computer technology (Sweden’s first such professorship) Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg

Major Contributions

1. Building BESK (1950–1953)

After returning from the United States with detailed knowledge of the IAS machine architecture, Stemme became the chief hardware developer for BESK (Binar Elektronisk SekvensKalkylator). He worked under the overall leadership of Conny Palm (until Palm’s death in December 1951) and then Stig Comet.

BESK was completed in 1953 and for a brief period was the fastest computer in the world. It used 2400 vacuum tubes and 400 germanium diodes, with initial memory provided by Williams tube electrostatic storage (a technology Stemme had specifically researched). Stemme contributed three or four patentable ideas to the project.

The machine’s architecture was closely modelled on the IAS machine, for which the Swedish team had retrieved detailed drawings during their Princeton visit. BESK served Swedish science and industry until 1966, handling everything from weather forecasting and nuclear energy calculations to aircraft wing design for Saab.

2. Memory Technology

Stemme focused particularly on memory solutions for electronic computers. In the early 1950s, he researched Williams tube memory technology, which became BESK’s initial storage system. Later, with Gunnar Stenudd, he co-created a carousel memory (first exhibited at a Paris show in 1958), an innovative approach to computer data storage.

3. Facit Electronics and the “BESK Boys” (1956–1963)

In 1956, Stemme and most of the BESK technical staff were recruited by Atvidabergs Industrier (later Facit) to develop computers for the commercial market. This group became known as the “BESK Boys.” Under Stemme’s leadership as chief engineer, Facit’s electronics division manufactured approximately:

  • 9 copies of BESK under the product name Facit EDB
  • 12 classified transistorised computers for Swedish Air Force command-and-control systems

The mainframe initiative ended in 1962–1963 as the economics of small-country computer manufacturing became unfavourable against American competition.

4. Pioneering Inkjet Printing

During his time as professor at Chalmers, Stemme took out early patents on inkjet printing technology – an invention that would eventually become ubiquitous. His memorial noted that this was “an apparatus that virtually all people now have in their homes for printing photos from digital cameras.”

5. First Professor of Computer Technology in Sweden

In 1963, Stemme was appointed to Sweden’s first professorship in computer technology at Chalmers, where he remained until retirement. This appointment recognised both his engineering achievements and the growing importance of computing as an academic discipline.

Personal Characteristics

Stemme’s memorial described him as “a brilliant engineer and a man of honour” who remained “withdrawn and little known” despite his significant contributions. This quiet, modest demeanour stands in contrast to the enormity of his technical achievements – from building Sweden’s fastest-in-the-world computer to pioneering inkjet printing.

Honours

  • Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (elected 1962)
  • Gustaf Dalen Medal (1965)

Connections to Others in the NWP/Computing Story

  • Conny Palm – leader of the Swedish computing project who sent Stemme to Princeton; Palm died before BESK was completed
  • John von Neumann – Stemme studied in von Neumann’s group at IAS Princeton, learning the architecture that became BESK’s blueprint
  • Gosta Neovius – fellow member of the 1947 US study delegation (Neovius went to Harvard while Stemme went to Princeton); co-developer of BESK
  • Carl-Erik Froberg – another member of the 1947 delegation; Froberg also visited Princeton and later built the SMIL computer in Lund using the same IAS architecture
  • Stig Comet – took over leadership of the BESK project after Palm’s death
  • Olle Karlqvist – co-architect of BESK (responsible for instruction set with Neovius)
  • Carl-Gustaf Rossby – the meteorologist whose weather calculations were among BESK’s most important applications

Sources

  • Erik Stemme, Swedish Wikipedia. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Stemme Accessed: 2026-04-03
  • “Till minne av Erik Stemme” (In Memory of Erik Stemme), Datasaab. http://www.datasaab.se/Aktuellt/Stemme%20in%20memoriam.htm Accessed: 2026-04-03
  • BESK, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BESK Accessed: 2026-04-03
  • “Facit and the BESK Boys: Sweden’s computer industry (1956–1962),” Tom Petersson, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 2005. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/3331020_Facit_and_the_BESK_Boys_Sweden’s_computer_industry_1956-1962 Accessed: 2026-04-03
  • Swedish Board for Computing Machinery, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Board_for_Computing_Machinery Accessed: 2026-04-03
  • “Awesome and Swedish,” Nordstjernan. https://nordstjernan.com/news/sweden/9128/ Accessed: 2026-04-03
  • “Forsta svenska datorn varldsbast” (First Swedish computer best in the world), Forskning & Framsteg, 2000. https://fof.se/artikel/2000/5/forsta-svenska-datorn-varldsbast/ Accessed: 2026-04-03