Mr and Mrs Jacobsson represented two traditions typical of the urban societies of 19th century Finland. Alfred Jacobsson was the son of the Merchant Navy Captain Johan Jacobsson, who had moved to Turku from the archipelago municipality of Korpo, while Alfred’s wife, Hélène Kumlin, was closely related to old Turku families of civil servants and merchants. The couple married in 1877.

An expression of the generous nature and sound citizenship of Mr and Mrs Jacobsson was their numerous large donations. As early as 1899 they gave considerable amounts towards the construction of an orphanage, run by a charitable association of which Hélène Jacobsson was the chair of for a long time. On their silver wedding anniversary, the couple donated the Biological Museum to the city of Turku. Mr and Mrs Jacobsson left most of their extensive estate to the Åbo Akademi University Foundation. Their home was the substantial core of this donation. Hélène died on the 14th of April 1928, and Alfred, on the 20th of February 1931.

Alfred's biography

Helene's biography