Rolf von Heidenstam - An International President . Rolf von Heidenstam was AGA’s first president after Gustaf Dalén. When he took up his position in 1937 he already knew the AGA Group inside out. In a way, Rolf von Heidenstam was Gustaf Dalén’s public image. Raised into the diplomatic life and with his excellent linguistic skills, Rolf von Heidenstam was just the man Dalén needed to make AGA a truly international company. And that was just exactly what Admiral Arvid Lindman, AGA’s chairman said in 1912 when he encouraged the young von Heidenstam to relinquish his career as a naval officer and join AGA. Von Heidenstam was to become AGA's "minister of foreign affairs" who handled international relations. He was not an engineer so his importance to AGA was entirely at a business level. Rolf von Heidenstam was a brilliant negotiator and as president he piloted AGA skillfully through the turbulent years from his appointment in 1937 until 1950. Among other things, he saw to it that new markets were opened in South and Central America to replace those in Eastern and Central Europe which were lost during World War II. Von Heidenstam was chairman of AGA's board from 1950 until 1957. In addition to his efforts on behalf of AGA he also headed a number of Swedish export delegations and was chairman of the General Export Association of Sweden and president of the International Chamber of Commerce.