Örnulf Tigerstedt

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. 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.

In 1918 Tigerstedt began publishing, and in 1919 he graduated from the Swedish Normal Lyceum in Helsinki. 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 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.

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".

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