Tyra Elisabet Wadner (7 June 1891 - 7 June 1967) was a Swedish defence volunteer who founded the Swedish ''Svenska Lottakåren'' (''SLK''), the

Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization ( (''SLK'') communicatively, , and ''Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer'' juridically, ) is an independent auxiliary defence organization in Sweden. The organisation is part of the Swedish Total ...

Early life

Tyra Elizabeth Nordquist was born in Brunskog,

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

, on 7 June 1891 to August Nordquist and Mathilda (née Friberger). She was the youngest of their five children. Her father managed a factory but died before she was a year old. Following this tragedy, her family moved to

Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...

. In 1914, Tyra Nordquist married the then

Underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word '' Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 19 ...

Martin Wadner, who later became a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. The couple had five daughters, the eldest of whom was pirate radio pioneer

Britt Wadner Britt Wadner (16 January 16, 1915 – 13 March 1987 Båstad) was a Swedish pirate radio manager. Early life Britt Wadner was born on 16 January 1915 in Linköping to Tyra and Martin Wadner, the oldest of five daughters. Her family were well-off ...

Sverige Lottakårer

In the summer of 1924, Tyra Wadner travelled to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

with her husband, then chief instructor at the Stockholm

Swedish Landstorm The Swedish Landstorm () was a form of militia and territorial defence force, a so-called '' Landstorm'' (roughly "land assault", ), created in Sweden in 1885. It consisted of all conscripts who had completed their service, generally men between 33 ...

Association, to study the country's Civil Guard, known as the White Guard (, ). During this visit, Wadner came into contact with the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Lotta Svärd Lotta Svärd () was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. Formed originally in 1918, it had a large membership undertaking volunteer social work in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed to support the White Guard. Duri ...

, a voluntary

auxiliary Auxiliary may refer to: In language * Auxiliary language (disambiguation) * Auxiliary verb In military and law enforcement * Auxiliary police * Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of some kind to a military se ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

organisation for women, formed in 1918 during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

to support the White Guard. Led by

Helmi Arneberg-Pentti Helmi Arneberg-Pentti (13 August 1889 - 22 January 1981)Dates on tombstone at Hietaniemi cemetery was the chairman of Lotta Svärd, the Finland, Finnish auxiliary organisation for women, from 1921 to 1922 and 1925 to 1929. She served the organisa ...

then

Fanni Luukkonen Fanni Luukkonen (13 March 1882 – 27 October 1947) was the longtime leader of the Finland, Finnish Lotta Svärd, a voluntary auxiliary organisation for women. Early life and education Fanni Marie Luukkonen was born in Helsinki, the middle chi ...

, it had a large membership undertaking volunteer social work in the 1920s and 1930s, and auxiliary support to the military during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

period, particularly the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

. Wadner was inspired to create a similar organisation in Stockholm on her return. The new organisation was named ''Stockholms landstormskvinnor'' and operated under the Stockholm Landstorm Association. The Stockholms Landstormskvinnor quickly gained sister organisations around the country. Wadner helped to start several of them. Collectively, they were known as the Landstormskvinnorörelsen, or Lotta Movement. Wadner remained a leading figure in the Lotta movement until her resignation in 1942 when the Landstorm was abolished. The connected women's associations broke away and formed an independent organisation, the Sverige Lottakårer (Swedish Lotta Corps), the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization. At that time, the Lottarörelsen was one of the country's largest women's organisations ever. It continues to this day.

Personal life

Tyra and Martin Wadner had five daughters,

(b. 1915), Ulla (b. 1919), Anne-Marie (b. 1921), Kerstin (b. 1924) Barbro (b. 1926). Tyra Wadner died on her 76th birthday in 1967. She is buried in Säters cemetery in

. Her gravestone bears the inscription ‘Lottan Tyra Wadner 1891-1967.’

Awards and decorations

For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm ribbon

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It") is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gusta ...

'', 8th size (1942) *

Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization Medal of Merit The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization Medal of Merit (, SLKgm/sm) is a medal awarded by the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization since 1944 (silver) and 1967 (gold) for personal effort which has been useful for the organizat ...

in gold * Federation of Landstorm Associations Medal of Merit in gold and honorary shield in silver (''Sveriges landstormsföreningars centralförbunds guldmedalj och hederssköld i silver och förtjänstmedalj'') * Stockholm Landstorm Association (''Stockholms landstormsförbund'') Silver Medal * Stockholm Shooting Federation (''Stockholms skytteförbund'') Silver Medal * Kronoberg Landstorm Association (''Kronobergs landstormsförbund'') Gold Medal * Halland-Northwest Scania Landstorm Association (''Halland-nordvästra Skånes landstormsförbund'') Gold Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadner, Tyra 1891 births 1967 deaths Swedish women Recipients of the Illis quorum People from Arvika Municipality