Dag Hammarskjöld biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was born on July 29, 1905, in Jönköping, Sweden. The youngest of four boys, Hammarskjöld largely grew up in the east coast province of Uppland, where his father, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, served as governor.

Dag was close to his parents, and their approach to life greatly influenced him. This was especially true of his father, who among other positions, served as chairman of the board of the Nobel Foundation, as prime minister of Sweden, and as a member of the Hague Tribunal. "I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country—or humanity," Dag Hammarskjöld later recalled.

In 1925 Hammarskjöld earned a degree in humanities from Uppsala University, and then returned for a second degree in economics, which he completed three years later. He earned his law degree in 1930 and his doctorate in economics in 1934.

Shortly after wrapping up his doctorate degree, Hammarskjöld was appointed secretary of the Bank of Sweden, a position he held for one year before moving on to a nine-year post as undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance. In 1941 he was named head of the Bank of Sweden. By the late 1940s Hammarskjöld's head for finance and his diplomatic demeanor earned him the position of what effectively could be considered deputy foreign minister, a job that thrust him into the center of Sweden's role in the world economy.

Shaping the UN

In the wake of World War II and the reshaping of the world order, Hammarskjöld came to play a pivotal role not just in giving Sweden a key voice, but in staking out a steady diplomacy as global politics reacted to the advent of the Cold War.

After serving a variety of roles on behalf of his country, including delegate to the Paris Conference in 1947, which helped push forward the Marshall Plan, he served as vice-chairman of the Swedish delegation to the Sixth Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1951 and 1952. He followed that up by becoming acting chairman of the Seventh General Assembly in New York.

On April 7, 1953, Dag Hammarskjöld was named secretary-general of the United Nations, just the organization's third head, and the first to be elected unanimously. Given the uncertain times, Hammarskjöld's tenure was both triumphant and disappointing. He was viewed by the Soviets as simply an agent of the West and had trouble earning the country's confidence. At the same time, in 1955 he secured a major victory when he got the release of 15 American pilots being held hostage by the Chinese.