Hammarskjöld, Dag (1905–1961)

Abstract

Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping, Sweden, and died in an aircrash near Ndola in Zambia. He came from a family (which was knighted early in the 17th century) with a long tradition of public service; his father Hjalmar Hammarskjöld was Prime Minister of Sweden in 1914–17. Hammarskjöld’s achievements were many and varied: a PhD at the University of Stockholm, 1933; Decent at the University of Stockholm, 1933–41; Under Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, 1936–45; Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank of Sweden, 1941–8; Under Secretary of the Foreign Office, 1946–51; Vice-chairman of the executive committee of Organization for European Economic Cooperation, 1948–9; an expert non-party member of the Swedish Cabinet as Minister without portfolio in charge of foreign economic relations, 1951–3; Vice-chairman of Sweden’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in 1952 and chairman in 1953; elected Secretary General of the UN for 1953–8 and re-elected for a five-year term in 1958; Fellow of the Swedish Academy of Letters, 1954; posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1961.