Gunnar
Myrdal (Sweden)
UNECE Executive Secretary from 1947
to 1957
Gunnar Myrdal was born
on December 6, 1898 in Sweden. He graduated
from the Law School of Stockholm University
in 1923 and began practicing law while continuing
his studies at the university. He received
his juris doctor degree in economics in
1927 and was appointed docent in political
economy. From 1925 to 1929 he studied for
periods in Germany and Britain, followed
by his first trip to the United States in
1929-1930 as a Rockefeller Fellow. During
this period, he also published his first
books, including The Political Element in
the Development of Economic Theory.
Returning
to Europe, he first served for one year
as Associate Professor in the Post Graduate
Institute of International Studies, Geneva,
Switzerland. In 1933 he was appointed to
the Lars Hierta Chair of Political Economy
and Public Finance at the University of
Stockholm. From 1945-1947, he was Sweden's
Minister of Commerce, a position which
he left to accept his appointment as Executive
Secretary of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe. In 1957, he left
this post to direct a comprehensive study
of economic trends and policies in South
Asian countries for the Twentieth Century
Fund, which resulted in Asian Drama: An
Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations and
The Challenge of World Poverty. A World
Anti-Poverty Program in Outline.
From 1961,
he was back in Sweden and was appointed
Professor of International Economics at
the Stockholm University. In 1974, he shared
the Nobel memorial prize with Friedrich
A. Hayek.
He died in Stockholm on
May 17, 1987.