Elin Matilda Elisabet Wägner (16 May 1882 – 7 January 1949) was a Swedish writer, journalist,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, teacher,

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

. She was a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

from 1944.

Biography

Elin Wägner was born in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

, Sweden as the daughter of a school principal, Wägner was only three years old when her mother died. Wägner's books and articles focus on the subjects of women's emancipation,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, votes for women, the

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

, welfare, and environmental pollution. She is best known for her commitment to the women's suffrage movement in Sweden, National Association for Women's Suffrage, for founding the Swedish organization Rädda Barnen (the Swedish chapter of the ''

International Save the Children Alliance Save the Children International, formerly known as the International Save The Children Alliance, is a worldwide non-profit organization that aims to improve the living of children. There are 30 Save the Children member organizations around the wo ...

'') and for developing the women's citizen school at Fogelstad (where she was also a teacher on civil rights). Alongside

Fredrika Bremer Fredrika Bremer (17 August 1801 – 31 December 1865) was a Finland, Finnish-born Sweden and Norway, Swedish Swedish literature, writer and feminism in Sweden, feminist reformer. Her ''Sketches of Everyday Life'' were wildly popular in Bri ...

, Wägner is often seen as the most important and influential feminist pioneer in Sweden. Fogelstadgruppen (sq cropped)

Wägner was the launching editor of the weekly political magazine ''

Tidevarvet ''Tidevarvet'' (Swedish: ''The Epoch'') was a weekly political and feminist magazine existed between November 1923 and December 1936 in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile ''Tidevarvet'' was established in 1923. The first issue appeared on ...

'' and headed the magazine from 1924 to 1927. A prolific writer, Wägner wrote novels, articles in various daily newspapers and screenplays for a number of films. Among Wägner's most popular novels — which continue to be read — are: ''Norrtullsligan'' ("Men and Other Misfortunes", 1908), ''Pennskaftet'' ("The Penholder", 1910), ''Åsa-Hanna'' (1918), ''Kvarteret Oron'' ("Stormy Corner", 1919), ''Silverforsen'' ("The Silver Rapids", 1924), ''Vändkorset'' ("The Turnstile", 1934), ''Väckarklocka'' ("Alarm Clock", 1941) and ''Vinden vände bladen'' ("The Wind Turned The Pages", 1947). Her three novels ''Dialogen fortsätter'', 1932, ''Genomskådad'', 1937, and ''Hemlighetsfull'', 1938. are credited with projecting her pacifist stance foreseeing the threat of further war. Her 1941 non-fiction title ''Väckarklocka'' (Alarm Clock) foresees environmental issues, but it was her biography of

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, '' Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she wa ...

that is credited with winning her a place at the prestigious

. Wägner has recently been translated into English with ''Stockholm Stories'' (2002), which contains two of her wittiest novels: ''Men and Other Misfortunes'' and ''Stormy Corner''. Many of her books have previously been translated into French, German, Dutch, and Russian. Wägner was married to

John Landquist John Landquist (3 December 1881 in Stockholm – 2 April 1974 in Danderyd) was a Swedish literary critic, literary scholar, writer and professor of pedagogy and psychology at Lund University from 1936 to 1946. When Landquist studied at Upps ...

from 1910 to 1922.

Bibliography

Work by Wägner include the following:

Books

*''Från det Jordiska Museet'' (1907) *''Norrtullsligan'' (1908) - "Men and Other Misfortunes" *''Pennskaftet'' (1910) - "The Penwoman" *''Helga Wisbeck'' (1913) *''Mannen och Körsbären'' (1914) - "The Man and the Cherries" *''Camillas Äktenskap'' (1915) - "Camilla's Marriage" *''Släkten Jerneploogs Framgång'' (1916) *''Åsa-Hanna'' (1918) *''Kvarteret Oron'' (1919) - "Stormy Corner" *''Den Befriade Kärleken'' (1919) - "The Liberated Love" *''Den Förödda Vingården'' (1920) *''Nyckelknippan'' (1921) - "The Bunch of Keys" *''Den Namnlösa'' (1922) - "The Nameless" *''Från Seine, Rhen och Ruhr'' (1923) *''Silverforsen'' (1924) - "The Silver Rapids" *''Natten till Söndag'' (1926) *''De Fem Pärlorna'' (1927) *''Den Odödliga Gärningen'' (1928) *''Svalorna Flyga Högt'' (1929) *''Korpungen och Jag'' (1930) *''Gammalrödja'' (1931) *''Dialogen Fortsätter'' (1932) - "The Dialogue Continues" *''Mannen vid min Sida'' (1933) - "The Man by my Side" *''Vändkorset'' (1934) - "The Turnstile" *''Genomskådad'' (1937) - "Unmasked" *''Hemlighetsfull'' (1938) - "Mysterious" *''Tusen År i Småland'' (1939) - "Thousand Years in Småland" *''Fred med Jorden'' (1940) - "At Peace with Earth" *''Väckarklocka'' (1941) - "Alarm Clock" *''Selma Lagerlöf I'' (1942) *''Selma Lagerlöf II'' (1943) *''Hans Larsson'' (1944) *''Vinden Vände Bladen'' (1947) - "The Wind Turned The Pages" *''Spinnerskan'' (1948) *''Fredrika Bremer'' (1949)

References

* Stig Hadenius, Torbjörn Nilsson & Gunnar Åselius (1996). Sveriges historia (History of Sweden). Borås: Bonnier Albs. . (In Swedish)

External links

Elin Wägner at HighBeam EncyclopediaElin Wägner at IgentaConnect
* Titles b
Elin Wägner
is freely available a
The Swedish Literature Bank
''(in Swedish)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Elin 1882 births 1949 deaths 20th-century Swedish novelists 20th-century Swedish women writers Feminist writers People from Lund Swedish ecologists Women ecologists Swedish feminists Swedish magazine founders Swedish pacifists Pacifist feminists Swedish suffragists Swedish women environmentalists Swedish women novelists Swedish-language writers Writers from Scania Members of the Swedish Academy

Biography

Bibliography

Books

References

Further reading

External links