Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (, ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961.

As of 2023, he remains the youngest person to have held the post, having been only 47 years old when he was appointed.

He was a son of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917.

Hammarskjöld's tenure was characterized by efforts to strengthen the newly formed UN both internally and externally.

He led initiatives to improve morale and organisational efficiency while seeking to make the UN more responsive to global issues.

He presided over the creation of the first UN peacekeeping forces in Egypt and the Congo and personally intervened to defuse or resolve diplomatic crises.

Hammarskjöld's second term was cut short when he died in a plane crash while en route to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis.

Hammarskjöld was and remains well regarded internationally as a capable diplomat and administrator, and his efforts to resolve various global crises led to him being the only posthumous recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

He is considered one of the two best UN secretaries-general, along with his successor U Thant, and his appointment has been hailed as one of the most notable successes for the organization.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld "the greatest statesman of our century".

Dag Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping to the noble family Hammarskjöld (also spelled Hammarskiöld or Hammarsköld).

He spent most of his childhood in Uppsala.

His home there, which he considered his childhood home, was Uppsala Castle.

He was the fourth and youngest son of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917.

Hammarskjöld studied first at Katedralskolan and then at Uppsala University.

By 1930, he had obtained Licentiate of Philosophy and Master of Laws degrees.

Before he finished his law degree he had already obtained a job as Assistant Secretary of the Unemployment Committee.

From 1930 to 1934, Hammarskjöld was Secretary of a governmental committee on unemployment.

During this time he wrote his economics thesis, "Konjunkturspridningen" ("The Spread of the Business Cycle"), and received a doctorate from Stockholm University.

In 1936, he became a secretary in Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank.

He was state secretary in the Ministry of Finance 1936–1945, Swedish delegate to the Organization for European Economic Cooperation 1947–1953, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1949–1951 and minister without portfolio in Tage Erlander's government 1951–1953.

He helped coordinate government plans to alleviate the economic problems of the post-World War II period and was a delegate to the Paris conference that established the Marshall Plan.

From 1941 to 1948, he served as chairman of the Riksbank's General Council.

Hammarskjöld quickly developed a successful career as a Swedish public servant.

In 1950, he became head of the Swedish delegation to UNISCAN, a forum to promote economic cooperation between the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries.

Although Hammarskjöld served in a cabinet dominated by the Social Democrats, he never officially joined any political party.

In 1951, Hammarskjöld was vice chairman of the Swedish delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in Paris.

He became the chairman of the Swedish delegation to the General Assembly in New York in 1952.

On 10 November 1952, Trygve Lie announced his resignation as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Several months of negotiations ensued between the Western powers and the Soviet Union without reaching an agreement on his successor.

On 13 and 19 March 1953, the Security Council voted on four candidates.

Lester B. Pearson of Canada was the only candidate to receive the required majority, but he was vetoed by the Soviet Union.

At a consultation of the permanent members on 30 March 1953, French permanent representative Henri Hoppenot suggested four candidates, including Hammarskjöld, whom he had met at the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation.

The superpowers hoped to seat a Secretary-General who would focus on administrative issues and refrain from participating in political discussion.

Hammarskjöld's reputation at the time was, in the words of biographer Emery Kelèn, "that of a brilliant economist, an unobtrusive technician, and an aristo-bureaucrat".

As a result, there was little to no controversy in his selection; the Soviet permanent representative, Valerian Zorin, found Hammarskjöld "harmless".

Zorin declared that he would be voting for Hammarskjöld, surprising the Western powers.

The announcement set off a flurry of diplomatic activity.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was strongly in favor of Hammarskjöld and asked the United States to "take any appropriate action to induce the [Nationalist] Chinese to abstain".

On 20 December 1954, he was elected to take his father's vacated seat in the Swedish Academy.