Alva Myrdal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alva Myrdal
|
|
|---|---|
Alva Myrdal in Tierp in 1968.
|
|
| Born |
Alva Reimer
31 January 1902 Uppsala, Sweden
|
| Died | 1 February 1986 (aged 84) Danderyd, Sweden
|
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Occupation | Politician, sociologist, diplomat |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | Jan Myrdal, Sissela Bok, Kaj Fölster |
Alva Myrdal (born Alva Reimer; January 31, 1902 – February 1, 1986) was an important Swedish woman. She was a sociologist (someone who studies how people live in groups), a diplomat (a person who represents their country), and a politician. She was a strong leader in the movement to reduce weapons around the world, called disarmament.
In 1982, Alva Myrdal won the famous Nobel Peace Prize along with Alfonso García Robles. She married Gunnar Myrdal in 1924.
Contents
About Alva Myrdal's Life
Her Early Life and Education
Alva Myrdal was born in Uppsala, Sweden. She grew up as the oldest of five children in a regular family. Her father was a socialist and a modern liberal, which means he believed in fairness for everyone and new ideas.
Her family moved often, living in places like Eskilstuna and Stockholm. Alva studied psychology (the study of the mind) and family sociology. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Stockholm in 1924.
In 1929, Alva and her husband, Gunnar Myrdal, traveled to the United States. There, Alva continued to study psychology, education, and sociology. She learned a lot about how to educate children. Seeing the big differences between rich and poor people in the US made her even more interested in politics.
Later, they moved to Geneva, Switzerland, to study why the population in Europe was shrinking.
Working for Families and Children
Alva Myrdal became well-known in the 1930s. She played a key role in creating Sweden's welfare state, which is a system where the government helps its citizens with things like healthcare and education.
In 1934, she wrote a book with Gunnar Myrdal called Crisis in the Population Question. This book explored how to create social reforms that would allow people, especially women, to have more freedom while also encouraging families to have children. It also talked about how parents and the community should share the responsibility of educating children.
Myrdal believed that preschools in Sweden needed to be better. In her 1935 book, Urban Children, she shared her ideas for a new preschool system. She thought the old system was unfair. It offered 'poor relief' for less wealthy families and separate preparations for rich children going to private schools.
She argued that everyone should have access to good education, no matter how much money their family had. She wanted to combine these two extremes into one fair system.
A year later, in 1936, she helped start and became the director of the National Educational Seminar. Here, she trained preschool teachers. She taught them about new ideas in child psychology and emphasized women's personal growth.
In 1937, Alva Myrdal helped design Stockholm's cooperative Collective House. This building was made to give women more freedom in their daily lives.
In 1938, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal moved back to the United States. During this time, Alva wrote Nation and Family (1941), which was about Swedish families and population policies. She also spent some time in Sweden during World War II.
Her Work for Peace and Disarmament
Alva Myrdal was a long-time member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. In the late 1940s, she started working on international issues with the United Nations. In 1949, she was chosen to lead the UN's welfare policy section.
From 1950 to 1955, she led UNESCO's social science section. She was the first woman to hold such important positions at the UN. Later, from 1955 to 1956, she served as a Swedish representative in India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
In 1962, Myrdal was elected to the Riksdag, which is Sweden's parliament. That same year, she became Sweden's delegate to the UN disarmament conference in Geneva. She held this role until 1973.
During the talks in Geneva, she was very active. She became a leader for the nonaligned countries. These countries tried to pressure the United States and the Soviet Union to reduce their weapons.
Her experiences in Geneva led her to write the book "The game of disarmament." In it, she shared her disappointment that the US and the USSR were slow to disarm.
Myrdal helped create the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. She became its first chairman in 1966. In 1967, she was also named a special Cabinet minister for disarmament, a position she held until 1973.
She also wrote the well-known book The Game of Disarmament, published in 1976. Because she was such a strong supporter of disarmament, Myrdal received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 with Alfonso García Robles.
Myrdal also worked to improve child care. She later led a government group on women's work and chaired the Federation of Business and Professional Women.
Her Family Life
In 1924, Alva Myrdal married Professor Gunnar Myrdal. They had three children: Jan Myrdal (born 1927), Sissela Bok (born 1934), and Kaj Fölster (born 1936). Her grandson is Stefan Fölster (born 1959).
Her Death
Alva Myrdal passed away on February 1, 1986, the day after her 84th birthday.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Awards She Received
- West German Peace Prize (1970; with her husband Gunnar Myrdal)
- Wateler Peace Prize (1973)
- Royal Institute of Technology's Great Prize (1975)
- Monismanien Prize (1976)
- Albert Einstein Peace Prize (1980)
- Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding (1981)
- Nobel Peace Prize (1982; with Alfonso García Robles)
Honorary Degrees
Alva Myrdal received special honorary degrees from many universities around the world:
- Mount Holyoke College (1950)
- University of Leeds, Doctor of Letters (1962)
- University of Edinburgh (1964)
- Columbia University, Doctor of Humane Letters (1965)
- Temple University, Doctor of Humane Letters (1968)
- Gustavus Adolphus College, Doctor of Divinity (1971)
- Brandeis University, Doctor of Laws (1974)
- University of Gothenburg, Doctor of Philosophy (1975)
- University of East Anglia (1976)
- University of Helsinki (1980)
- University of Oslo (1981)
- Linköping University, Doctor of Medicine (1982)
Images for kids
-
Alva and Gunnar Myrdal around 1980
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Alva Myrdal para niños
