Background
Mattias Gardell was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. He is the son of Bertil Gardell, a professor in social psychology, and the brother of writer and comedian Jonas Gardell.
historian university professor
Mattias Gardell was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. He is the son of Bertil Gardell, a professor in social psychology, and the brother of writer and comedian Jonas Gardell.
He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in the history of religions at Stockholm University in 1995 and became a docent in 1999. He has also lived and studied in Cairo, Egypt.
He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden. He has been working at the Department of Comparative Religion and the Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Stockholm University. In March 2006 he was appointed the first holder (from 1 July 2006) of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University.
Ron McVan, who collaborated with Gardell for his Gods of the Blood book, states that he had "once sworn an oath of brotherhood to me in my Viking hof." Gardell is partly blamed by McVan for accusations of plagiarism.
As an expert on Islamophobia, he testified as an expert witness in the Trial of Anders Behring Breivik. Gardell is married to Edda Manga.
He has nine children, Linus, Emma, Moa, Ida, Sofia, Stefan, Kim, Amanda, and Ina.
Gardell is a libertarian socialist and a known Human Rights defender. In the past he considered himself pagan and has called himself a "spiritual anarchist".
Gardell was one of eleven Swedish activists from Ship to Gaza participating in the flotilla that tried to break the Israeli embargo of the Gaza strip. Along with his wife, Gardell was aboard Move Files Mavi Marmara during the Israeli armed forces raid on the flotilla on the morning of 31 May 2010.
He was deported from Israel and landed in Sweden on 3 June along with his wife and other Swedish participants. He told Swedish journalists "We were victims of a massive military assault. lieutenant can not be described as anything but piracy." He also stated that the soldiers came on board with fully loaded weapons equipped with laser sights and at least four people were killed execution style.