Fredrik Idestam

Idestam's father Gustaf was a mining official, and Fredrik followed in his footsteps by studying for a career in mining administration. After obtaining his degree, he received a senate scholarship to study at the Freiberg Mining Academy in Saxony in 1863–1864, during which time he was appointed an official at the Finnish Board of Mines.

On his return journey from Freiberg in the summer of 1864, Idestam visited a groundwood mill in the Harz mountains. It was a new invention — a small factory producing paper raw material from wood, using a process and machinery developed by paper manufacturer Heinrich Voelter. The mill Idestam visited was already a commercially viable operation. He immediately grasped the significance of the technology for Finland: the forests provided abundant raw material, and the country's rapids could serve as power sources. Upon returning to Finland, he ordered a set of Voelter machines from Germany.