Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish citizen born 29th July, 1905 in Jönköping City, Southern Sweden. He was the youngest of the four sons of Agnes Hammarskjöld and Hjalmar Hammarskjöld. The latter was the prime minister of Sweden, a member of the Hague Tribunal, and governor of Uppland .[1]
Hammarskjöld was one of the outstanding students of his day at Uppsala University where he earned his degree in linguistics, literature, and history in 1925..Hammarskjöld studied an economics degree in 1928, a law degree in 1930, and a doctoral degree in economics in 1933 at Uppsala University .[2]
Hammarskjöld lectured economics in 1933 at the University of Stockholm and he became the secretary for the Bank of Sweden in 1935.This was how Hammarskjöld entered public service in Swedish financial affairs, Swedish foreign relations, and global international affairs. From 1936 to 1948, Hammarskjöld held the post of undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance and was placed at the head of the Bank of Sweden, the most influential financial structure in the country [3].In 1949 he was given an official post in the Foreign Ministry and, in 1951, Hammarskjöld became the Deputy Foreign Minister. Hammarskjöld represented Sweden as a delegate to the United Nations in several years since 1949 but only elected Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1953 .[4]
Hammarskjöld was the 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations and held the position from 1953 to 1961 [5]. Hammarskjöld died at the age of 56 in a plane crash that came down outside Ndola Town in Zambia, then named Northern Rhodesia, on 18 September 1961 . Hammarskjöld’s death occurred amid a post-colonial race for resources in Africa including the eastern province of Katanga, Congo where civil war had intensified. Hammarskjöld known as a champion of decolonisation, believed that the UN had a duty to intervene in Congo’s crisis because Katanga’s secession posed an existential threat to the entire Congo. Hammarskjöld was heading for a secret meeting to negotiate an end to the Congo civil war with president of the secession African state of Katanga, Moïse-Kapenda Tshombe.
End notes:
[1]Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 ↵
[2]style: Dag Hammarskjöld – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Sun. 13 Jan 2019. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1961/hammarskjold/facts/ ↵
[3]Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 ↵
[4]Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 ↵
[5]Fons,Feyaerts.The Guardian. Man accused of shooting down UN chief: “Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. Available from: www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/12/former-raf-pilot-shot-down-un-chief-dag-hammarskjold-1961-plane? ↵
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish citizen born 29th July, 1905 in Jönköping City, Southern Sweden. He was the youngest of the four sons of Agnes Hammarskjöld and Hjalmar Hammarskjöld. The latter was the prime minister of Sweden, a member of the Hague Tribunal, and governor of Uppland .[1]
Hammarskjöld was one of the outstanding students of his day at Uppsala University where he earned his degree in linguistics, literature, and history in 1925..Hammarskjöld studied an economics degree in 1928, a law degree in 1930, and a doctoral degree in economics in 1933 at Uppsala University .[2]
Hammarskjöld lectured economics in 1933 at the University of Stockholm and he became the secretary for the Bank of Sweden in 1935.This was how Hammarskjöld entered public service in Swedish financial affairs, Swedish foreign relations, and global international affairs. From 1936 to 1948, Hammarskjöld held the post of undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance and was placed at the head of the Bank of Sweden, the most influential financial structure in the country [3].In 1949 he was given an official post in the Foreign Ministry and, in 1951, Hammarskjöld became the Deputy Foreign Minister. Hammarskjöld represented Sweden as a delegate to the United Nations in several years since 1949 but only elected Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1953 .[4]
Hammarskjöld was the 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations and held the position from 1953 to 1961 [5]. Hammarskjöld died at the age of 56 in a plane crash that came down outside Ndola Town in Zambia, then named Northern Rhodesia, on 18 September 1961 . Hammarskjöld’s death occurred amid a post-colonial race for resources in Africa including the eastern province of Katanga, Congo where civil war had intensified. Hammarskjöld known as a champion of decolonisation, believed that the UN had a duty to intervene in Congo’s crisis because Katanga’s secession posed an existential threat to the entire Congo. Hammarskjöld was heading for a secret meeting to negotiate an end to the Congo civil war with president of the secession African state of Katanga, Moïse-Kapenda Tshombe.
End notes:
[1]Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 ↵
[2]style: Dag Hammarskjöld – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Sun. 13 Jan 2019. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1961/hammarskjold/facts/ ↵
[3]Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 ↵
[4]Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 ↵
[5]Fons,Feyaerts.The Guardian. Man accused of shooting down UN chief: “Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. Available from: www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/12/former-raf-pilot-shot-down-un-chief-dag-hammarskjold-1961-plane? ↵