Bok Relative, Nobel-Winner Myrdal Dies in Stockholm After Long Illness

Nobel Peace Prize winner Alva Myrdal, the mother-in-law of President Derek C. Bok, died Saturday in Stockholm. She was 84.

Myrdal, a long time advocate of nuclear disarmament, served as Sweden's chief arms negotiator at the Geneva talks from 1962 until 1973. The cause of death was not clear yesterday.

The peace prize, which she shared with Mexican diplomat Alfonso Garcia Robles in 1982, culminated three decades of work to contain the threat of nuclear weapons.

Myrdal had been bedridden for more than a year. President Bok said her death was in many ways a liberation for the woman who worked to benefit so many.

Myrdal was married to Gunnar Myrdal, the 1974 co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics. They are the fourth married couple to both win Nobel prizes and the only couple to win the prize for unrelated efforts.

Myrdal worked for disarmament because she feared that as long as these weapons exist the world is in danger. In her 1976 book, "The Game of Disarmament," she wrote, "It is no exaggeration to say that unless significant decreases are soon achieved, it is difficult to see how catastrophe can be avoided."

"Millions of people are joining the fight against nuclear weapons. I hope that after we have received the peace prize, even greater will stand up," Myrdal said when she won the award.

Nuclear disarmement was only one of the many causes Myrdal joined to the benefit of humanity. She worked in social programs in underdeveloped nations and served as the Swedish ambassador to Burma and Nepal.

Loved by the Swedish people, Myrdal always worked to aid the oppressed and weak of the world. She served as principal director of the United Nations Department of Social Affairs.

"From the very beginning she fought for equality," said Sissela Bok, Myrdal's daughter and a professor of Ethics at Brandeis University, said yesterday. She said that her mother worked for many causes but did not abandon any one.

President Bok called Myrdal, "the most wonderful mother-in-law," adding that despite her responsibilities, "the moment she entered the house, she was concerned only for her family."

A sociologist Myrdal grew up on a farm in an atmosphere that discouraged education. "She overcame tremendous environmental obstacles," to attain her success, PresidentBok said.

Memorial services for Myrdal will be held inSweden in two weeks. President Bok said he will betraveling to that nation in about 10 days.

Kristar Stendahl, a former dean of the DivinitySchool and the current Bishop of Stockholm, willconduct the services, Bok said.

Course Change: Starting today, ScienceB-29, "Human Behavioral Biology," will meet at1:00 in Science Center B, rather than at 11:00 inScience Center C. Moral Reasoning 24, "MoralChoice and Personal Responsibility," will meet atits scheduled time, 1:00, but in Science Center Crather than Science Center B