Arne Myrdal

Arne Johannes Myrdal (2 November 1935 – 8 August 2007) was a Norwegian local politician and later a convicted anti-immigration activist. He also saw himself as a very religious man. He had a varied working career, including as a military officer and businessman. He was active in local politics for the Labour Party in the 1960s, until he broke out and founded the local "Øyestad Free Labour Party" ("Øyestad frie Arbeiderparti"). In 1981, he came in the public spotlight for having co-written a highly controversial local history book for Øyestad.

Myrdal was one of the founders of the anti-immigration organisation Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring (FMI) in 1987, and went on to become well known for his activism and violent clashes in the late 1980s to early 1990s, initially as the leader of the organisation. In 1990, he was convicted to one year in prison for planning to bomb an asylum centre. He broke out of the FMI in 1991 to form his own more militant organisation, Norge mot innvandring (NMI). Myrdal retired from political activity in the mid-1990s due to failing health. He died in 2007 following long-term illness.

Myrdal was educated in trade school and Officer Candidate School for the infantry. His working career varied between writing local history books about Øyestad, working as an unskilled worker on the oil facilities Gullfaks B and C, Mongstad and Rafnes. He also ran a business as a scrap dealer, worked in Televerket, ran a car dealership in Arendal and fared at sea.

In the 1960s, Myrdal was a local politician in Øyestad for the Labour Party. He however withdrew from the party as he could not enlist whoever he wanted to the party, and instead founded the Øyestad Free Labour Party (Øyestad frie Arbeiderparti) for the 1967 local elections. His new party became represented in the municipal council, and Myrdal himself was a local councillor for eight years.

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