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Fanni LuukkonenHead of the Finnish women's military organization Lotta Svärd
Date of Birth: 13.03.1882
Country:  Finland |
Content:
Biography of Fanni Luukkonen
Fanni Luukkonen was born in Oulu in 1882, the second child of Olli and Katarina Sofia Luukkonen. She attended the local school for girls after completing her primary education. Her class teacher was a well-known pietist preacher named Angelika Venel, whose influence could be felt in the behavior and thinking of many of her students long after they left school. Luukkonen graduated from the women's pedagogical school at the University of Helsinki in 1902. Afterward, she worked as a teacher in Oulu and later became the head educator at a girls' school associated with the Sortavala teacher's seminary in 1912.
Leader of the Lotta Svärd
During the Finnish Civil War, Luukkonen served in the voluntary women's auxiliary organization called the Lotta Svärd. Following the war, she joined the newly formed Lotta Svärd organization and eventually became its leader in 1929. In June 1940, after the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, Marshal Mannerheim awarded Luukkonen the Order of the Cross of Liberty, First Class with Swords, for her military achievements. She was the first woman to receive such an honor. In 1944, she was additionally awarded a star for this order.
Life After the War
After inspecting the camps in occupied Karelia and visiting front-line units where the Lottas served, Luukkonen even visited Hitler's headquarters, where the Fuhrer awarded her the Order of the German Eagle with Star, the third degree of the order. According to the terms of the Moscow Armistice that ended the Soviet-Finnish War of 1941-1944, the Lotta Svärd organization, led by Luukkonen, was officially disbanded following the demands of the Allied Control Commission.
In her final years, Fanni Luukkonen lived in Helsinki, where she engaged in literary translations. She repeatedly mentioned receiving threatening and offensive letters from relatives of Lottas and parents of Lottas who had suffered during the war. Many of these letters were anonymous.
Death and Legacy
Fanni Luukkonen passed away in Helsinki on October 27, 1947, from a heart attack. She was buried in the family mausoleum in Kruununsaari. The gravestone was engraved with the emblem of the Lotta Svärd and the phrase, "Isänmaa on Jumalan ajatus" (Fatherland is God's idea).
