activist in the struggle to enhance Finnish-language institutions, and founder-director of the first stable Finnish-language theatre, the Finnish National Theatre. Bergbom, himself the author of a romantic tragedy, directed the first performance of Aleksis Kivi's one-act biblical drama Lea (1869), the event cited as the beginning of professional theatre in the Finnish language.

In 1872 Bergbom founded the Finnish National Theatre as a touring troupe; with the lifelong assistance of his sister, Emilie, he managed the theatre until his death. During the first year of its existence, the National Theatre performed 36 plays, of which only 13, all single-act, were native works; by its 20th season the ratio was reversed, two-thirds of the plays being Finnish and including the premieres of six full-length Finnish plays. Bergbom also produced notable Finnish versions of classics and works by foreign authors, among them the first Finnish-language productions of Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, 1881) and Goethe (Faust, 1885). In 1902 a permanent building was constructed in Helsinki as home for the theatre. Bergbom was assisted in his endeavours by such company members as the actress Ida Aalberg and by the important Finnish playwright Minna Canth, whose works concerning the emancipation of women were premiered by the company.