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Jan Myrdal
Jan Myrdal (19 July 1927 – 30 October 2020) was a Swedish author known for his strident Maoist, anti-imperialist and contrarian views and heterodox and highly subjective style of autobiography.
Born in Bromma, Stockholm, in 1927, Jan Myrdal was the son of two of Sweden's most influential 20th century intellectuals, Nobel Laureates Alva Myrdal (née Reimer) and Gunnar Myrdal, and the brother of Sissela Bok and Kaj Fölster. Through his sister Sissela, Myrdal was the brother-in-law of Dean of Harvard Law School and longtime president of Harvard University, Derek Bok.
Myrdal married four times. His first two wives, Maj Lidberg (1952–1956) and Nadja Wiking (1948–1952), bore him two children, Janken Myrdal (with Wiking) and Eva Myrdal (with Lidberg). Myrdal left both wives and their children at a young age, and, for most of his life, he would live with his third wife Gun Kessle (1926–2007). A graphic artist and photographer, she illustrated many of his works. After Kessle's death, Myrdal married Andrea Gaytán Vega in 2008. They divorced in 2018.
As a matter of public record and, indeed, as noted in Myrdal's own writings, several family members severed ties with him after personal conflicts, due to his abandonment of their relationships, or in protest of his portrayals of the Myrdal family. His last book A Second Reprieve (2019), drew criticism for its graphic depiction of his own and his past wives' sexual and adulterous relationships, although it also garnered praise as a work of unflinching introspection.
An animal lover, Myrdal and Kessle (and later Myrdal, alone) owned a succession of cats and dogs, which feature in many of his books.
As a young child, Myrdal followed his parents to the United States shortly before the Second World War. After the German occupation of Norway in 1940, the family feared that a Nazi invasion of Sweden could be imminent and decided to return. Jan initially protested, perceiving himself at that time as a naturalized American; he would later stress the role that his childhood in New York had in shaping his intellectual evolution.
Relations between Myrdal and his parents were troubled, as he would later relate in several books. At sixteen, he dropped out of high school to focus on writing and politics. He initially had little success as a journalist and an author, which he attributed in part to his political views and to the influence of his parents, both of whom were leading figures within Sweden's ruling Social Democratic party.
Having adopted Marxist-Leninist ideas already in the mid-1940s, Myrdal was for some years a member of Democratic Youth, the youth wing of Swedish Communist Party.
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Jan Myrdal
Jan Myrdal (19 July 1927 – 30 October 2020) was a Swedish author known for his strident Maoist, anti-imperialist and contrarian views and heterodox and highly subjective style of autobiography.
Born in Bromma, Stockholm, in 1927, Jan Myrdal was the son of two of Sweden's most influential 20th century intellectuals, Nobel Laureates Alva Myrdal (née Reimer) and Gunnar Myrdal, and the brother of Sissela Bok and Kaj Fölster. Through his sister Sissela, Myrdal was the brother-in-law of Dean of Harvard Law School and longtime president of Harvard University, Derek Bok.
Myrdal married four times. His first two wives, Maj Lidberg (1952–1956) and Nadja Wiking (1948–1952), bore him two children, Janken Myrdal (with Wiking) and Eva Myrdal (with Lidberg). Myrdal left both wives and their children at a young age, and, for most of his life, he would live with his third wife Gun Kessle (1926–2007). A graphic artist and photographer, she illustrated many of his works. After Kessle's death, Myrdal married Andrea Gaytán Vega in 2008. They divorced in 2018.
As a matter of public record and, indeed, as noted in Myrdal's own writings, several family members severed ties with him after personal conflicts, due to his abandonment of their relationships, or in protest of his portrayals of the Myrdal family. His last book A Second Reprieve (2019), drew criticism for its graphic depiction of his own and his past wives' sexual and adulterous relationships, although it also garnered praise as a work of unflinching introspection.
An animal lover, Myrdal and Kessle (and later Myrdal, alone) owned a succession of cats and dogs, which feature in many of his books.
As a young child, Myrdal followed his parents to the United States shortly before the Second World War. After the German occupation of Norway in 1940, the family feared that a Nazi invasion of Sweden could be imminent and decided to return. Jan initially protested, perceiving himself at that time as a naturalized American; he would later stress the role that his childhood in New York had in shaping his intellectual evolution.
Relations between Myrdal and his parents were troubled, as he would later relate in several books. At sixteen, he dropped out of high school to focus on writing and politics. He initially had little success as a journalist and an author, which he attributed in part to his political views and to the influence of his parents, both of whom were leading figures within Sweden's ruling Social Democratic party.
Having adopted Marxist-Leninist ideas already in the mid-1940s, Myrdal was for some years a member of Democratic Youth, the youth wing of Swedish Communist Party.