Arvid Gerhard Damm

Although already married with a son, he fell in love with a circus performer from Hungary whose opposition to a relationship he overcame by arranging a sham civil wedding ceremony in 1900 with an officiant and two witnesses.

His new “wife”, with whom he then the lived for 19 years, only became aware of the situation when Damm found a new romantic interest and wanted a divorce.

After a long and acrimonious legal battle, in which he denied ever being married to her and accused her of being a spy, he was ordered to pay alimony but refused and fled to France.

Damm designed a number of crypto machines, based on patents filed in Sweden, the US and many other countries.

When Damm’s legal shenanigans in connection with his faked marriage became too much of an embarrassment, he was forced to give up his position in the company and moved to France where he died in 1928.

In 1925, Boris Hagelin was placed in charge of the management of the company and the development of its products, having joined AB Cryptograph in 1922.

Another strip, bearing the normal A–Z alphabet was nearby, and could take one of two positions, dependent on the movement of chain similar to the A-1.

Despite having no cryptographic experience, Boris Hagelin managed to use the ideas of Damm´s B-13 to develop a crypto machine, B-21, which was to compete with Enigma for sales to the Swedish General Staff.