Company president was Finland’s first Olympic champion

In 1937, Verner Weckman became President of one of Nokia Corporation’s founding companies, Finnish Cable Works, after 16 years as its Technical Director.

Russian connection

Weckman had worked as a mining engineer in Russia from 1909 to 1921.

His knowledge of the Russian language and culture, as well as his industry connections, proved crucial when Finnish Cable Works started exporting products to the Soviet Union after the Second World War.

Award-winning athlete

Weckman was also a world-class light-heavyweight wrestler and Finland’s first Olympic Gold medalist.

• He won the wrestling World Championship in 1905
• He won Olympic gold medals in wrestling at the 1906 Games in Athens and the 1908 Games in London

Did you know?

Finnish Cable Works supplied cables to the Soviet Union as part of Finland’s war reparations after WWII. This gave the company a good foothold for later trade.