thumb|right|Major General Kurt Wallenius
Kurt Martti Wallenius (25 July 1893 in Kuopio – 5 May 1984 in Helsinki) was a Finnish major general and writer. He served as Chief of the General Staff of Finland from 1925 to 1930 and as commander of the Lapland Group at the start of the Winter War. Wallenius was active in the far-right Lapua movement and was convicted for his role as a leader of the Mäntsälä rebellion in 1932. After his military career ended he became a prominent author whose depictions of Lapland and the Arctic Ocean are regarded as classics of northern literature.
Early life and education
Wallenius was the son of a bank manager, later bank director, in Kuopio. He completed his matriculation examination at the Kuopio Classical Lyceum in 1912 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Helsinki in 1915, before continuing to a Master of Arts degree with aesthetics as his main subject. He then changed course entirely and joined the Jäger movement as a soldier.
After returning to Finland, Wallenius took part in the Finnish Civil War of 1918 on the side of the anti-Communist Whites. He commanded a platoon in Tervola and Tornio. In February 1918, Wallenius presided over the executions of five Russians in Tornio, including a diplomat. In Lapland, Wallenius met reindeer herder Aleksi Hihnavaara, with whom he travelled around Lapland, and the two became good friends.
That same year he was promoted to captain and made commander of the front in Lapland and head of the Civil Guard in northern Finland. From March to October 1918 he led the troops on the northeastern border, including as leader of the Viena expedition against the Murmansk Legion. Later in 1918 he was promoted to major and given command of the Salla Regiment, the 1st Lapland Border Guard Battalion, and the Lapland Border Guard (1918–1921).