Axel Örnulf Tigerstedt (29 September 1900 – 6 November 1962) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet, novelist, translator, journalist and a supporter of Nazism before and during the Second World War. He lived and worked in Sweden from 1944 until his death.

Biography Tigerstedt was born in Helsinki, Finland, into the family of the scientist, geologist and dendrologist and Mary Helene Florence von Schoultz. He had a sister Maria and brothers Göran, Karl Gustav Ludwig, Axel Olof and Erik, a brilliant inventor. He was married twice; first to Hilma Theresia Löfhjelm from 1927 until their divorce in 1931, and then to Giulia Annita Catani from 1934. In his work he used the pseudonyms Axel Fredriksson, as a reference to Scandinavian patronymic naming system, and Axel Falander, his ancestors' former family name until 1691 when they were ennobled with the name Tigerstedt.George C. Schoolfield : A history of Finland's literature p. 497 (Google Books)

In 1918 Tigerstedt began publishing, and in 1919 he graduated from the Swedish Normal Lyceum in Helsinki. Since the 1920s he worked with various mass media; from 1927 to 1930, he was employed at the Finnish Advertising Center (). For a long time he worked in the propaganda industry; in particular, he took part in the work of the Finnish censorship and propaganda organ State Information Service. In the early 1930s, Tigerstedt joined the Nazi Patriotic People's Party. p. 48–51. He was deputy chairman of the Dante Alighieri Society and headed the Finnish PEN-club, serving on its board of directors from 1934 to 1939 and as its vice-chairman from 1937 to 1938. In 1942, on the initiative of Goebbels, the European Association of Writers (German: , ESV) was founded. The group had about 40 prominent Finnish authors, including Mika Waltari, Tito Colliander, Jarl Hemmer and Maila Talvio. In the interwar and war years, Tigerstedt was the main ideologue of a group of young right-wing extremists called the Black Guard., Uppslagsverket Finland

In the early autumn of 1944, Tigerstedt, who risked being prosecuted for his Nazi activities, was forced to emigrate to Sweden. He died at the age of 62 in Strängnäs, Sweden, in 1962.

Works The experiences of the Civil War in Finland and the strong conservatism of family traditions greatly influenced the formation of Tigerstedt as a writer, and subsequently prompted him to become a supporter of Nazism. With the classical contradiction between culture and nature at the heart of his worldview, the young writer adopted the teachings of such philosophers as Oswald Spengler and Lothrop Stoddard.Göran O:son Waltå: Poet under Black Banners. The Case of Örnulf Tigerstedt and Extreme Right-Wing Swedish Literature in Finland 1918–1944. Uppsala Universitetet 1993

In 1918, Tigerstedt published his first collection of poems, , designated, like the two subsequent books, and Exercitia, as an apprenticeship to and imitation of Verner von Heidenstam. His real success was brought by two poetry collections, (1928) and (1931) with modernist-colored lyrics, characteristic of aestheticism. In the thirties, Tigerstedt was considered one of the greatest modernists in Sweden and Finland. Subsequently, the collections of essays (1934) and (1935) were published. Tigerstedt has been described as "the lyrical standard-bearer of fascism and Nazism in Swedish-speaking countries".

In both poetry and prose Tigerstedt had an inherent admiration for power. This is especially noticeable in (1933), where the author praises Marcus Aurelius for defeating the Marcomans, and in (1940). The poem "The Prince" from this latest collection contains the following words:

Where there is justice, there is truth. Bent necks greet the banners of the victors, And the goddess makes the bed in the tent of the winner.

During World War II, the writer's deeply rooted anti-communism was clearly manifested. In 1942 he published the book The Fight Against Soviet Spies in Finland 1919–1939. In the extremely pro-German (1944), in a threatening tone, discussions are conducted about the future of Europe, warnings about the consequences of possible victory of the Soviet Union in World War II are set forth.Kai Ekholm: Kielletyt kirjat 1944-1946 / tiivistelmä , p. 62

Books

. Söderström & Co. 1918 . Söderström 1923 Exercitia. Söderström 1924 . Söderström 1928 (as Swedish text editor). Suomen Ilmoituskeskus 1928. . Söderström 1928 (with drawings by Gregori Tigerstedt). Söderström 1930 . Söderström 1931 . Söderström 1933 . Söderström 1934 . Söderström 1935 , edited by Örnulf Tigerstedt. Itsenäisyyden liitto 1940 . Söderström 1940 (as head editor). Självständighetsförb. Stockholm 1940 (as editor). Itsenäisyyden liitto 1940 (as editor). Itsenäisyyden liitto 1941 . Söderström part one: 1940, part two: (vignettes by Gregori Tigerstedt) 1952 . Otava part one 1940, part two 1952 . Fahlcrantz & Gumaelius, Stockholm 1942 . Otava 1943 (as co-editor). Liihe-Verlag, 1943. . 1944 . Söderström 1945 . Söderström 1947 (published under the pseudonym Axel Falander by Fahlcrantz & Gumaelius in 1946) Tutein, Peter. (as translator, using the pseudonym Axel Fredriksson). Fahlcrantz & Gumaelius 1947 . Söderström 1948 Tutein, Peter. (as translator, using the pseudonym Axel Fredriksson). Söderström 1948 . Fahlcrantz & Gumælius, Stockholm 1949 . Söderström 1950 . Söderström 1951 Waltari, Mika. (as translator). Söderström, 1951. . Söderström 1953 (cover and vignettes by Birger Etson Birger). Söderström 1955. . 1957 . Uppsala, 1957. (An extract from Fagerstabrukens historia) . Tomas förlag, Strängnäs 1964

References