Jean Abraham Grill

Life & Legacy

Jean Abraham Grill (21 July 1736 – 12 March 1792), sometimes called Johan Abraham Grill, was a Swedish merchant, supercargo, director of the Swedish East India Company (SOIC) and ironmaster at Godegård with several factories.
Grill journeyed to China twice as the representative for the SOIC. He lived in Canton (now known as Guangzhou) as well as Macao for a total of almost ten years, doing trade for the company during the arrival of three Swedish ships. In China he lived the life of an adventurer; survived a shipwreck, traded with other East Asian countries together with his partner Michael Grubb and smuggled opium from India to China.
He returned to Sweden in 1768, a wealthy man and lived the rest of his life in Swedish high society, writing minor essays about his travels as member of the Royal Swedish Academies of Sciences and Music. He married Lovisa Ulrika Lüning and bought the Godegård Manor and several ironworks, which he renovated and improved. When Grill died in 1792, his wife took over his business and ran the ironworks and factories.
His most notable legacy is the notes, correspondence, accounts, cargo lists and books he kept during his life. They are preserved in the Godegård Archive and in the Gothenburg University Library.