MOGENS PELT: CONNECTING SCANDINAVIA TO GREECE: BETWEEN THE MODERN AND THE ANCIENT

The aim of this talk is to discuss the life story of Gösta Enbom (1895–1986) in the context of his professional career and how it can be used as a lens through which to understand the world in which he lived and worked.

Gösta Enbom was a Swedish engineer and businessman who spent much of his professional life in the Eastern Mediterranean. After working in Germany and for Swedish companies across Europe and the Near East during the interwar period, he settled permanently in Greece. During the Second World War, he served with the Swedish Red Cross Commission in Greece and later with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). After the end of hostilities, he established Enbom & Co. in Piraeus and developed close ties with the Danish shipyard Burmeister & Wain. Appointed Danish consul in 1952 and later consul general, Enbom became an important link between Scandinavian and Greek commercial and cultural circles.

His support for the excavations at Asine helped foster Danish-Swedish archaeological cooperation, while his bequests reflected his lifelong commitment to archaeology and Scandinavian cultural institutions.