Zafar Shayan
“All mankind is now learning that these nuclear weapons can only serve to destroy, never become beneficial.”
Alva Myrdal
Alva Myrdal was a Swedish politician, leader of disarmament movement, and the winner of the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize. She was born in 1902 in Uppsala and completed her bachelor’s degree in Science in 1924 and got married. In 1929, together with her husband, she traveled to the US and continued her studies with focus on psychology, education, and sociology.
In 1930, the couple wrote a book entitled “The population problem in crisis”. In this book they addressed on housing and school problems. In 1943, Myrdal was appointed to the committee of Democrat Party to draft a post-war program and later she was appointed to the Government Commission on International Post-War Aid and Reconstruction.
In 1940, Myrdal became involved in international problems with the UN and she was appointed as the head of UN’s welfare policy section. From 1950 – 1955, she served as the chairman of social sciences section of UNESCO. She has also served as Swedish envoy to India, Burma, Colombo and Sri Lanka. In 1962, was elected as the member of Swedish Parliament and also, she was nominated as the delegate of Sweden to the UN's disarmament conference in Geneva. She worked in the political committee of UN dealing with disarmament issues.
After years of experience in disarmament section of the UN, Myrdal wrote a book entitled “The Game of Disarmament”, in which she expressed her disappointment at the unwillingness of the US and USSR to disarm. She has written numerous articles and books on disarming and actively contributed to the establishment of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In 1982, she was awarded the Noble Peace Prize for her academic and diplomatic activities for disarmament.
The Nobel Prize: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1982/myrdal/biographical