Deputy Consul, Finance Councilor Frans Oskar Henrikson was born in Närpes on November 2, 1870. He died in Kristinestad on February 21, 1960 and thus reached the advanced age of almost 90 years.
The family to which Frans Henrikson belonged is widely branched in the Närpes area. Its famous ancestry goes back to the soldier Mats Sax who in 1778 settled on the homestead Sigg in Pjelax village. It is precisely the name Sax that the members of the family have worn and still wear in everyday speech. Later it was transferred to Sigge. The newly formed Henrikson, named after his father’s name Henrik, was used by the brothers Josef and Frans as a company name and was retained as a family name by the latter. It is thus assumed.
The father, Henrik, was once a farmer on Sigg. The farm is located next to the country road where it runs out onto the plain from the mile-deep forest that separates Kristinestad from Närpes.
This is where Frans Sigg grew up. But the siblings were multi-headed, and the homemaker could not really feed more than one family. It was by no means easy to find another food prisoner at that time. Many were dragged into the fighting flow of emigrants to America. But the young man Frans decided to settle in his homeland. He became a merchant, initially with his brother Joseph as his companion.
Frans Henrikson soon owned several stores in Närpes and Övermark. Thanks to hard work and strict frugality, he already felt so strong in 1902 that he opened his own import and wholesale store in Kristinestad. Now the new wholesaler Sydösterbotten and not least his own stores supplied with groceries imported by himself, whereby a larger profit remained in his own stock exchange. Of course, Henrikson, like any other merchant, primarily wanted to make money, let alone that his endeavor did not ultimately stop solely with this crass purpose.
It was here in Kristinestad, on the ruins of the dying or already weathered old trading houses, that the newcomer made his rather large acquisitions for the time and local conditions. But since the southeastern Bothnian upland area eventually, and definitely in the 1920s, turned its face towards larger metropolises, Henrikson closed down his business. He now served for a time as a church chamberlain at Brändö parish in Helsinki and then lived as a private man in his hometown until his death.
Henrikson served as Swedish Deputy Consul in the town from 1929-1947. In recognition of this, he was carved in 1946 with the first-class Knights of the Order of Vaasa. Another official proof of appreciation was found by Frans Henrikson, in that the President of the Republic in 1951 bestowed on him the name and dignity of the Economic Council.
Frans Henrikson had set strict rules of life, not least for himself. Someone may have sometimes thought that they were too strict. He lived restrainedly, yes mostly ascetic. But it is not for man to sit in judgment over his neighbor. At least in recent years, Henrikson has been extremely cautious, especially in economic matters. His circumstance and many small twists and turns, even in matters of little importance, sometimes tempted the patience of those around him. The old-fashioned neatness and something circling in his manner, not least when he was in the company of women, could well evoke a good-natured mockery from which the aging bachelor was not entirely undeserved.
But beneath this surface hid several solid properties. Frans Henrikson was a talented man who, in addition to the knowledge the primary school had given him in its own way, had acquired a respectable measure of education. He was clear and sharp in thought. Although he seemed brittle in nature, he possessed a willpower that was unbroken until the end and aroused surprise and admiration. He was always righteous; and he was Swedish. Nor did he lack the power to act when it came to seriousness. Then he could make quick decisions and show willingness to sacrifice. As soon as the winter war broke out and our cities were attacked from the air, he asked the county administrative board for immediate information on where and how he would most effectively pay a not insignificant amount in support of the defense. He fulfilled his intention, not only that time, but also later. But he did not carry it to the square.
The deceased was thus, though sociable, very secretive about himself. However, those who had won his trust know that he felt deeply rooted in his homeland and its life. To permanently secure the future of home and homeland, to in the long run improve business and spiritual cultivation, that was probably close to his heart. At the same time it must be said that his influence did not extend too far. However, Frans Henrikson clearly realized the importance of the highest Swedish cultivation in this country. In this way, his interest also came to include the foremost Finnish-Swedish educational institution, Åbo Akademi University. This happened to some extent already because the Academy’s founder in our time, the Dahlströmska trading house, was one of Henrikson’s old connections.
But also for these further perspectives, the homeland formed the solid foundation. Part of the fund that Frans Henrikson set up at the Academy thus serves students from South Ostrobothnia. This same part of the country will also enjoy the return on the rest of the fortune, which has accrued to the Swedish Cultural Fund and is managed by the Swedish Literary Society in Finland.
For Frans Henrikson, the temporal possessions appeared as a result of his life’s work. They were therefore not to be wasted, but should be preserved. The fruits of the deceased’s toil and toil will thus, in accordance with his will, in the future return to the village where they had been acquired. A thought as beautiful as this is not supposed to be given to every human being to find and to realize.
Eskil Hummels