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Dag Hammarskjöld | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 July 1905 Jönköping, Sweden |
| Died | 18 September 1961 (aged 56) Ndola, Northern Rhodesia |
| Cause of death | Aeroplane crash |
| Political orientation | Imperialism |
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1961. He previously served in various positions in the Swedish government and was a son of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. Hammarskjöld is the youngest person to have held the post of Secretary-General and the only one to die in office.
As Secretary-General Hammarskjöld played a key role in the Congo Crisis and in the UN assistance to imperialism in the crisis. Hammarskjöld refused to defend the elected government of Patrice Lumumba against the imperialist backed Katanga insurgency and UN forces made no attempt to intervene in the subsequent assassination of Lumumba. Following the assassination, Hammarskjöld supported the U.S. captialists, who he had family connections to, over the Belgians and not long after he died in a mysterious plane crash. Hammarskjöld's reputation has been whitewashed by the west and he is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Lauesen, Torkil (2021). Riding the Wave: Sweden's Integration into the Imperialist World System: 'Sweden: National and Historical Context; Patrice Lumumba and Dag Hammarskjöld' (pp. 131-140). Kersplebedeb Publishing. ISBN 978-1-989701-13-3