Dag Hammarskjöld Biography

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

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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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Dag Hammarskjöld

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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.