Nygren was born on 26 September 1872 in Gävle, Sweden, the son of Richard Nygren, a city broker, and his wife Thekla. He became a second lieutenant in Hälsinge Regiment 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 Hälsinge Regiment 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 Ministry of Land Defence 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 executive officer of the Svea Life Guards in 1923. Nygren was appointed commanding officer of the 7th Infantry Brigade in 1926 and Commandant in Boden Fortress in 1928. He was promoted to major general in 1929 and was appointed military commander of Upper Norrland's Troops 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 commanding officer 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, the daughter of rådmannen G. A. Öhgren and Ina. He was the father of colonel Hans Nygren. Nygren died on 12 January 1960 in Stockholm and was buried in Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.
