Oscar Nygren

Oscar Eugéne Nygren (26 September 1872 – 12 January 1960) was a Swedish Army general. He was Chief of the General Staff from 1933 to 1937 and acting Chief of the Army from 1936 to 1937. Although retired from active service in 1937, he was called back in service after World War II broke out, as commander of the 2nd Army Corps. He finally retired from the Army in 1941.

Career
Nygren was born in Gävle, Sweden and was the son of city broker Richard Nygren and Thekla (née Engelmark). He became a second lieutenant in Hälsingland Regiment (I 14) in 1892 and studied at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1896 to 1898 and was a cadet at the General Staff from 1898 to 1901. Nygren became a lieutenant at the General Staff in 1902 and was promoted to captain in 1904. He was adjutant to the head of the Ministry of Land Defence from 1907 to 1910 and was transferred to Hälsingland Regiment (I 14) in 1909. Nygren was major at the General Staff in 1912 and was appointed Chief of Staff in the III. Army Division in 1912.

He was vice chief at the Military Office of the Land Defence (Lantförsvarets kommandoexpedition) in 1915 and was lieutenant colonel at the General Staff in 1915. Nygren was appointed head of the Royal Swedish Army Staff College in 1917 and conducted study trips to Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, the Western Front and the Macedonian Front in 1918. Back in Sweden he became colonel in the General Staff in 1919. He was appointed head of the kommandoexpedition in 1919 conducted a study trip to the Italian Front in 1922. Back in Sweden he became second-in-command of the Svea Life Guards (I 1) in 1923.

Nygren was appointed commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade in 1926 and commandant at Boden Fortress in 1928. He was promoted to major general in 1929 and was appointed military commander of Upper Norrland in 1930. Nygren was after that Chief of the General Staff from 1933 to 1937 and acting Chief of the Army from 1936 to 1937 when he was promoted to lieutenant general. He was promoted to general upon retirement in 1937 and was placed in the reserve the year after. In 1939, when World War II broke out, Nygren was appointed commander of the newly formed 2nd Army Corps in Upper Norrland and in 1940 he became commander of the same in West Sweden. Nygren left the position in August 1941.

Other work
Nygren was military member of the Supreme Court from 1934 to 1954. He was military expert for the committee on the League of Nations and for Sweden's representative at the League of Nations' council meeting in Geneva in 1922. Nygren was Swedish member of the League of Nations' permanent advisory military committee and assistant to the Swedish representative in the League of Nations' disarmament commission. He was also chairman of the board the pension insurance company Allmänna pensionsförsäkringsbolaget.

Nygren became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1919.

Personal life
In 1905 he married Jenny Öhgren (1886–1959), the daughter of rådmannen G. A. Öhgren and Ina (née Granberg). He was the father of colonel Hans Nygren (1906–1982). Nygren died on 12 January 1960 in Stockholm and was buried in Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.

Awards and decorations
Nygren's awards:
 * Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword
 * Commander Second Clas of the Order of Vasa
 * Knight of the Order of the Polar Star
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
 * Commander First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog
 * Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav
 * Commander with Sword of the Order of Saint Alexander
 * First Class of the Order of Merit
 * Commander of the Legion of Honour
 * Commander of the Order of the Black Star
 * Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
 * Commander with Sword of the Order of Orange-Nassau
 * Third Class with Sword of the Order of Osmanieh
 * Knight First Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion
 * Knight of the Third Class of the Order of the Crown
 * Knight Third Class of the Order of Saint Anna
 * Landstorm Gold Medal (Landstorm-guldmedalj)
 * Volunteers Automobil Unions' Gold Medal (Frivilliga Automobilkårens guldmedalj)
 * First Class of the Austrian Red Cross' Badge of Honor