“Freedom from fear” could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.
Dag Hammarskjold Quotes
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| Birth: | 29th July, 1905 |
| Death: | 18th September, 1961 |
| Nationality: | Swedish |
| Profession: | Author, Diplomat, Economist |
About
Dag Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping, Sweden, but spent most of his childhood in Uppsala. He studied first at Katedralskolan and then at Uppsala University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and a Master's degree in Political economy. During this time he served for a year as the first Curator at Uplands Nation later moving to Stockholm.
From 1930 to 1934, Hammarskjöld was a Secretary on a governmental committee on unemployment. During this time he wrote his economics thesis, "Konjunkturspridningen", and received a doctorate from Stockholm University. In 1936, he became a Secretary at the Sveriges Riksbank and was soon promoted. From 1941 to 1948, he served as Chairman of the bank. During this time Hammarskjöld also held political positions. Early in 1945, he was appointed an adviser to the cabinet on financial and economic problems. He helped coordinate government plans to alleviate the economic problems of the post-war period.
In 1947, Hammarskjöld was appointed to a position with Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and in 1949 he became the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. A delegate to the Paris conference that established the Marshall Plan, in 1948 he was again in Paris to attend a conference for the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation. In 1950, he became head of the Swedish delegation to UNISCAN. In 1951, he became a cabinet Minister without Portfolio. Although Hammarskjöld served in a cabinet dominated by the Social Democrats, he never officially joined any political party.
In September 1961, Hammarskjöld learned about fighting between "non-combatant" UN forces and Katangese troops of Moise Tshombe. He was en route to negotiate a cease-fire on the night of 17–18 September when his Douglas DC-6 airliner SE-BDY crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia. Hammarskjöld and fifteen others perished in the crash.
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