Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was born
on 29 July 1905 in Jonkoping in south-central Sweden.
He was Secretary-General of the United Nations
from 10 April 1953 until 18 September 1961 when
he died in a plane crash while on a peace mission
in the Congo. Detailed
Biography
Background documents and information resources regarding
his legacy:
(A/PV.426)
General Assembly, 7th session : 426th meeting, Friday, 10 April 1953, New York.
His first inaugural address to the General Assembly
as Secretary-General on taking the oath of office
on 10 April 1953.
Resolution
708(VII) Report of the Secretary-General on
personnel policy.
The General Assembly invited the Secretary-General to submit a report to its
8th session on progress made in the conduct and development of the personnel
policy of the United Nations.
(A/2404)
Annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization, 1 July 1952-30 June 1953.
Dag Hammarskjöld outlined a plan for a more efficient and economical structure
and underlined the necessity to give the Secretary-General certain clearly
expressed powers. He drafted amendments to the Staff Regulations and revisions
of certain Articles in the Statute of the Administrative Tribunal. More...
(A/4800 and Add.1)
Annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization, 16 June 1960-15 June 1961.
Introduction is considered a "magisterial work". Dag Hammarskjöld
showed that the Charter clearly implied the existence of “an international
community, for which the Organization is an instrument and an expression”.
He stated that the overriding purpose of this community was to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war, and outlined certain key principles. (SG/SM/7941,
p. 3.)
Resolution
1625(XVI) Memorial to the late Dag Hammarskjöld.
After Dag Hammarskjöld's death, the Dag Hammarskjöld
Library was established by the General Assembly on 16 November 1961.
Nobel
Prize for Peace for 1961
In November 1961, the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Storting [Parliament]
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously to Dag Hammarskjöld.
Chagall
Window
A Committee and a Foundation established by the Staff of the United Nations
to provide a "living memorial" to Dag Hammarskjöld invited artist
Marc Chagall to contribute a piece of his work to the memory of the late Secretary-General
and to all those who had lost their lives in the cause of peace. This work
of art was unveiled on 17 September, 1964, and is located on the Eastern side
of the Public Lobby.
SG/SM/7941 Press
Release.
In 2001, the present Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered a lecture in Uppsala,
Sweden entitled "Dag Hammarskjöld and the 21st Century" in
which he explained that Dag Hammarskjöld's core ideas remain valid
in the new international context.
