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Dag Hammarskjöld

The second UN Secretary-General who died in a plane crash during the Congo Crisis.

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He is the only posthumous recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.[1] His legacy is controversial, praised in the Western world but disputed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the broader Global South.[1] Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld, a Swedish economist and diplomat, held the position of the United Nations' second Secretary-General from April 1953 until he died in a September 1961 plane crash.[2]

Key facts and history

Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping to the noble family Hammarskjöld and spent most of his childhood in Uppsala.[3] He was state secretary in the Ministry of Finance from 1936 to 1945 and minister without portfolio from 1951 to 1953.[4] His economics doctoral dissertation was titled "Konjunkturspridningen" and he earned his doctorate from Stockholm University.[4] A unanimous vote on 26 September 1957 gave him a second term.[5]

What the research sources say

The same source states that from 1941 to 1948 he was placed at the head of the Bank of Sweden.[6] The UN biography also states that he was responsible for organizing the first and second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva.[7] The same article states that Lumumba was effectively left to his fate instead of being secured by UN forces.[8] Dino Knudsen's article notes that Hammarskjöld, in front of the British UN representative, called Lumumba "a communist puppet."[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Dag Hammarskjöld" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nobel Prize facts", Nobel Foundation; "How Not to Select the Best UN Secretary-General", HuffPost, 28 October 2015; "Catalog record archived", Uppsala University}} {{Deprecated archive, 2008, p. 28; Dino Knudsen, "Not an obvious hero", Africa Is a Country, 2023; "Lumumba. De complotten? De moord", Davidsfonds/Leuven, 2004; Henning Melber, "Lumumba, Hammarskjöld and the Cold War in the Congo", African Magazine, 17 January 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Dag Hammarskjöld" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hammarskjöld", Collins English Dictionary; "Dag Hammarskjöld: The UN years ...", UN.org; "Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld", UN.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Dag Hammarskjöld" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sze, "Working for the United Nations: 1948–1968", University of Pittsburgh, December 1986, p. 20 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Dag Hammarskjöld" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Nobel Peace Prize 1961", NobelPrize.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Dag Hammarskjöld" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Heller 2001, p. 14; Heller 2001, p. 14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. "The Nobel Peace Prize 1961", NobelPrize.org. facts only, no text reused. nobelprize.org
  7. "Dag Hammarskjöld: The UN years ...", UN.org. facts only, no text reused. un.org
  8. Dino Knudsen, "Not an obvious hero", Africa Is a Country, 2023. facts only, no text reused. africasacountry.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dag Hammarskjöld (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Dag Hammarskjöld die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1961.

From the source: “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 1”

2. In which place was Dag Hammarskjöld born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Jönköping, Sweden.

3. In what year was Dag Hammarskjöld born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1905.

From the source: “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 1”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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