Quick Facts
- NAME: Dag Hammarskjöld
- OCCUPATION: Political Leader
- BIRTH DATE: July 29, 1905
- DEATH DATE: September 18, 1961
- EDUCATION: Uppsala University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Jönköping, Sweden
- PLACE OF DEATH: Near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
- Full Name: Dag Hammarskjöld
- Full Name: Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld
Best Known For
Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjöld served as secretary-general of the United Nations for eight years, from 1953 until his death on September 18, 1961.
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Play NowDag Hammarskjöld. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:38, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763.
Dag Hammarskjöld. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Dag Hammarskjöld." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 11:38 http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763.
"Dag Hammarskjöld," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Dag Hammarskjöld," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Dag Hammarskjöld [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763.
Dag Hammarskjöld, http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Dag Hammarskjöld. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld-20818763. Accessed May 21, 2013.
He was elected to a second term as secretary-general in 1957.
Controversial Death
In his effort to prevent war, Hammarskjöld dispatched a variety of UN missions to bring peace. One of the conflicts Hammarskjöld found urgent came in 1960 in the Congo, whose new government found itself staring down a number of key tests, including a possible mutiny in its army as well as white Belgian mining interests who worried they'd lose control of the country's natural resources.
Hammarskjöld took a hands-on approach to trying to solve the issues facing the republic. On September 18, 1961, just after midnight, Hammarskjöld was on his way to negotiate a cease-fire when his plane went down near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He was killed in the crash. A mystery has always surrounded the tragedy. In September 2011, the events surrounding Hammarskjöld's death were again brought into question following the release of a provocative new book, Who Killed Hammarskjöld, by Susan Williams, a senior research fellow at the University of London, who speculates that enemies of the Congolese government had murdered the secretary-general.
Hammarskjöld was later honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961, the first recipient ever to receive the award posthumously.
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