Ragnar Gripe

Ragnar Gripe was born in Malmö but later moved with his whole family to Stockholm. He graduated as a civil engineer in 1908 from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Initially, he was employed by the City of Stockholm’s water pipeline works. Gripe then became a railway engineer and head of the railway department at AB Stockholms Spårvägar in 1918. Twenty years later he was promoted to chief engineer. During World War II, he was also defense manager of the company.

Gripe married Astrid Schmidt. One of their two sons was the graphic artist Harald M. Gripe. Ragnar was a member of the crew of the KSSS 1912, named after his club, the Royal Swedish Sailing Society (Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet). The boat scored no points in the 8-metre class at the 1912 Olympic Games, placing sixth of seven yachts in both races.