Axel Matias Haglund

Axel Matias Haglund competed in the single sculls at the 1912 Olympic Games but lost in the first round to the eventual bronze medalist [Everard Butler]. He was also an avid skier and cyclist.

After completing school, Haglund worked in the machine shop of various ironworks. In 1909, he graduated from Helsinki’s Industrial School. He then worked as an intern in Germany and eventually graduated there as an engineer in 1913. Back in Finland, he was employed in the drawing office of ironworks. He then joined the state railways and was a depot foreman in Lahti. In 1918, he was transferred to Riihimäki to take up the position of second grade depot foreman.

Haglund was also an active member of the Finnish Workers’ Union and since 1923 he was chief of the local fire brigade in Riihimäki. His wife was Signe Maria (née Öster). The couple had one son and one daughter.