Elin Wägner was born in Lund, Sweden as the daughter of a school principal, Wägner was only 3 years old when her mother died. Wägner's books and articles focus on the subjects of women's emancipation, civil rights, votes for women, the peace movement, welfare, and environmental pollution. She is best known for her commitment to the women's suffrage movement in Sweden, National Association for Women's Suffrage, for founding the Swedish organization Rädda Barnen (the Swedish chapter of the International Save the Children Alliance) and for developing the women's citizen school at Fogelstad (where she was also a teacher on civil rights).