Membership badge of the Finnish women's organization Lotta Svjard

Silver, enamel, stamping. The original sign is in excellent condition, the enamel is free of chips and cracks. The mass of assay marks. Guarantee of authenticity.

Lotta Svjard (fin. and Swedish. Lotta Svärd, svärd= sword) was a women's paramilitary organization in Finland that existed between 1919 and 1944. The name for the organization was chosen after the heroine of Runeberg's work "The Tales of Fenrik Stoll", who did not want to stay at home, and followed her husband to the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809. Even after her husband died in battle, she still remained in the army, cooking food for soldiers, washing clothes, caring for the wounded. Since the members of the newly created organization were supposed to do the same, it was decided to name the organization after the heroine of Runeberg.

A division called the Lotta Svjard Organization was first founded in the city of Riihimaki on November 19, 1918. On August 29, 1919, by decree on the troops, the commander-in-chief of the Finnish Security Corps, Colonel G. D. von Essen, proposed the creation of a women's unit, marking the beginning of the all-Finnish organization. During the Civil War, Lotta Svjard was a unit of the Security Corps, and since September 9, 1920, it existed as an independent organization. In 1929, the organization was headed by the teacher of the Sortavala Teachers' Seminary, Fanny Luukkonen, who headed it until the end. A prominent role in the leadership was played by the director of the school in Lapua, MP Hilja Riipinen (who often clashed with Luukkonen). During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, the number of the organization reached 100-150 thousand women. By the end of the war of 1941-1944, 240 thousand lots helped the Finnish army.  Lotta Svjard was dissolved on November 23, 1944 by the decision of the State Council of Finland at the request of the Allied Control Commission in Finland (in accordance with Article 21 of the armistice treaty, which provided for the dissolution of military organizations), headed by the representative of the USSR A. A. Zhdanov. At the time of its abolition, there were 230 thousand people in the Lotta Svyard organization. In March 2011, former members of Lotta Svyard celebrated the 90th anniversary of the organization.