On January 15th, after 112 years, Aleks. Lampén was again present at the stock exchange, this time at PI's traditional senior lunch.
Aleks. Lampén's return to the Stock Exchange was answered by a docent Jyrki Paaskoski, another of the authors of the biography “The Talented Aleks. Lampén” published last year. Summarizing the key encounters in the life of innovator, CEO, minister and government professional Aleks. Lampén at the traditional senior lunch of PI members was certainly also one of the best choices as a forum for the lunch itself.
Collegial encounter
This was the sixth time that PI's senior luncheon was held. There were 88 PI seniors present, twelve of them women. A welcome glass of sparkling wine led the luncheon guests to the restaurant tables for good food and the ever-so-enthusiastic collegial presence.
Even a first-time visitor was found among the crowd. Vuorineuvos Ilkka Hämälä retired from his position as CEO of Metsä Group last summer and now immediately found a way to join the senior lunch. When he left Metsä Group, Hämälä promised not to join any company as a board member, so we have to ask, what then?
I have developed hobbies. I started studying singing, I take dance lessons, I look after my grandchildren and I walk my dog. Although I promised not to run for government, I have already had a couple of interesting ones, at the National Theatre and the Technical Museum Foundation.
“The talented Aleks. Lampén”
In his lunch speech Jyrki Paaskoski focused on the turning points in Aleks Lampén's life. The talented Lampén earned top grades in his youth both at Ressu in Helsinki and at the Polytechnic Institute, where Professor Gustav Komppa encouraged his star student to continue his studies and apply for a position as a teacher of chemical technology, in practice a professorship. The selection process itself later became a language policy farce, in which Lampén was left without a professorship.
Paaskoski also made the position of managing director of Ab Tornator a significant matter for Lampén, which Lampén accepted at the age of forty in 1919. However, his successful career as managing director ended with a cornering incident involving the ownership of Tornator, which resulted in Aleks. Lampén's managing directorship ending in 1931.
However, this personal drama was immediately put right in the new framework when Aleks. Lampén was appointed on January 20, 1932, as “advisor to follow and supervise KOP’s large industrial customers” of the National Joint Stock Bank. The problems of the client companies financed by the bank were great, so KOP expected a lot from the assignment and was not disappointed – Aleks. Lampén’s restructuring measures were a great success for the bank.
In his speech, Jyrki Paaskoski also assessed the mystery of why Aleks. Lampén remained on the sidelines of history despite his achievements. According to Paaskoski, this may have been due to the fact that Lampén was not, like the Ahlstöms, Juliens or Serlachius, a shareholder who was transferring the industrial empire to the next generations of the family. Lampén was a professional leader. The biography also assumes that Aleks. Lampén's early death, at only 56 years old in 1935, was a factor in the oblivion.
