Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Stig Albert Lorentz Löfgren (7 January 191228 April 1998) was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

officer. He served as Deputy Commanding General of the I Military District (1963–1966) and as Commanding General of Bergslagen Military District (1967–1973).

Early life

Löfgren was born on 7 January 1912 in Ljusnarsberg,

Örebro County Örebro County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly northern region of ...

, Sweden, the son of Alf Löfgren and his wife Asta (née Källgren).

Career

Löfgren was commissioned as an officer in 1933 with the rank of second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1933 and to captain in 1941. Löfgren attended the Royal Swedish Army Staff College in 1942 and served in the Defence Staff in 1944. In the Army Department, he then came to work close to the Chief of the Defence Staff, major general Carl August Ehrensvärd. During this time Löfgren also served as an expert in the 1945 Defence Committee, where he made an effort which made Ehrensvärd in his memoirs to call Löfgren as one of the "best of the young General Staff Corps officers". He was also a member in the Scandinavian defense negotiations from 1948 to 1949. In 1949 he was transferred to Boden Artillery Regiment, where he was appointed major, and in 1953 he returned to the Defence Staff. There Löfgren headed the Foreign Department from 1953 to 1956, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1955. Löfgren served as military attaché in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

from 1956 to 1961 and was promoted to colonel in 1959. He was then commander of Wendes Artillery Regiment from 1961 to 1963. In 1963, he was a member of the Swedish delegation to the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

with Alva Myrdal. Returning home from Geneva he took over as deputy commander of the I Military District in

Kristianstad Kristianstad ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 41,198 inhabitants in 2023. Since the 1990s, the city has gone from being a garrison town to a developed commercial city, ...

. In 1966, Löfgren was promoted to major general and from 1967 to 1973 he served as Commanding General of Bergslagen Military District. He was promoted to lieutenant general on the retired list in 1973. Löfgren co-wrote ''För Nordens frihet'' ("For the freedom of the Nordic countries") together with Malcolm Murray in 1949. Löfgren made an early entry into the Brunkeberg Club (''Klubben Brunkeberg'') and enriched the meetings with a number of lectures in an international security policy perspective. He made his biggest publicist contribution as a long-term employee of ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

''. He was involved in the newspaper as early as 1945, when his boss Ehrensvärd was one of the heavyweights. He was a military expert in the editorial department and was a member of the newspaper's board between 1968 and 1982.

Personal life

In 1936, Löfgren married Gunvor Laurén (born 1910), the daughter of Torsten Laurén and Gerda (née Nilsson). They had three daughters: Christina, Agneta and Birgitta.

Death

Löfgren died on 28 April 1998. He was interred on 5 June 1998 at the northern cemetery in

Täby Täby () was previously a trimunicipal locality, with 76,700 inhabitants in 2024. However, as from 2016, Statistics Sweden has amalgamated this locality with the Stockholm urban area. It is the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Sw ...

Dates of rank

*1933 – Second lieutenant *1937 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*1941 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

*1951 –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*1955 – Lieutenant colonel *1959 –

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 ...

*1966 – Major general *1973 –

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Awards and decorations

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

(6 June 1966) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_BAR

Commander of the

Knight of the

(1953) *

SWE_Order_of_Vasa_-_Knight_2nd_Class_BAR

Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

(1948)

Honours

*Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1951)

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Löfgren, Stig 1912 births 1998 deaths Swedish Army lieutenant generals People from Ljusnarsberg Municipality Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Swedish military attachés Commanders of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa