Fanni Luukkonen was the longtime leader of the Finnish Lotta Svard, a voluntary auxiliary organisation for women.
22 Facts About Fanni Luukkonen
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Fanni Marie Luukkonen was born in Helsinki, the middle child and only daughter of Katariina Sofia and Olli Luukkonen.
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Fanni Luukkonen was born into what was then the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state ruled by the Russian Empire.
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The young Fanni was a good sailor and keen on sports, particularly gymnastics.
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Fanni Luukkonen studied at the Oulu Girls' School where her class teacher was Angelika Wenell, a well-known advocate of pentecostalism, who had a strong influence on her future outlook.
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Fanni Luukkonen later studied at the Finnish Further Education College in Helsinki.
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Fanni Luukkonen graduated secondary school in 1902 and qualified as a primary school teacher in 1906.
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Fanni Luukkonen's first teaching job was in Oulu from 1906 to 1913, then she moved to teach in Sortavala, in Finnish Karelia, between 1913 and 1931 as head teacher of a girls' training school.
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Fanni Luukkonen undertook auxiliary work in support of the soldiers, alongside many other women.
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Fanni Luukkonen became aware of the sort of work women could do to support military operations and how such work could be organised.
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Fanni Luukkonen became known for her work ethic and in 1925 she became a member of the central board of Lotta Svard.
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Fanni Luukkonen supervised some of the most important courses at Tuusula, where a Lotta college had been founded before the war near the Civil Guard officers' school there.
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Fanni Luukkonen was the first woman to receive this decoration, and was awarded it with a red ribbon, to be worn around the neck like soldiers.
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Fanni Luukkonen travelled the country from Lapland to the Karelian Isthmus, as well as over the border to the Dvina and Onega regions which had previously been Finnish territory.
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Fanni Luukkonen sometimes hosted foreign visitors interested Lotta Svard's activities under front-line conditions.
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Fanni Luukkonen gave lectures and talks, in Finland and abroad, on the history and activities of the Lottas, and build relationships with other Scandinavian and Baltic Lotta organisations.
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The Finnish Lotta organisation was well regarded in Germany, and Fanni Luukkonen visited Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler's headquarters on 19 May 1943 where she received the Order of the German Eagle with Star from Hitler for her role in "the fight against Bolshevism".
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Fanni Luukkonen was the only non-German woman to be awarded this medal.
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Immediately after the announcement of the Lotta Svard disollution, Fanni Luukkonen was awarded the Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with a grand star - the highest decoration ever granted to a woman in Finland.
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The end of the Lotta Svard this meant a major life change for Fanni Luukkonen: she lived in Helsinki on her small pension, doing temporary translation work.
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Fanni Luukkonen died of a heart attack age 65 on 27 October 1947 in Helsinki.
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Fanni Luukkonen was buried in the family grave in Kruununsaari cemetery in Ii, Finland.