DIPLOMAT

Dag Hammarskjöld

1905 - 1961

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Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (English: HAM-ər-shuuld,; 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 1961. As of 2025, he remains the youngest person to have held the post, having been only 47 years old when he was appointed. He was a son of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. Hammarskjöld's tenure was characterized by efforts to strengthen the newly-formed UN both internally and externally. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Dag Hammarskjöld is the 3rd most popular diplomat (up from 6th in 2019), the 17th most popular biography from Sweden (up from 23rd in 2019) and the most popular Swedish Diplomat.

Dag Hammarskjöld was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953 to 1961. He led the UN through its most turbulent period, helping to end the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Congo Crisis, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. On September 18, 1961, he died in a plane crash in what is now Zambia.

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Among DIPLOMATS

Among diplomats, Dag Hammarskjöld ranks 3 out of 90. Before him are Pocahontas, and Kofi Annan. After him are Gaius Marius, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, John Jay, Ban Ki-moon, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Alexandra Kollontai, John R. Bolton, Raoul Wallenberg, and Antony Blinken.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1905, Dag Hammarskjöld ranks 7. Before him are Jean-Paul Sartre, Ayn Rand, Howard Hughes, Simo Häyhä, Nevill Francis Mott, and Albert Speer. After him are Viktor Frankl, Elias Canetti, Christian Dior, Henry Fonda, Greta Garbo, and Carl David Anderson. Among people deceased in 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld ranks 5. Before him are Carl Jung, Ernest Hemingway, Erwin Schrödinger, and Zog I of Albania. After him are Patrice Lumumba, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Emily Greene Balch, Lee de Forest, Jules Bordet, Gary Cooper, and Percy Williams Bridgman.

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In Sweden

Among people born in Sweden, Dag Hammarskjöld ranks 17 out of 1,879. Before him are Svante Arrhenius (1859), Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (1882), August Strindberg (1849), Olof Palme (1927), Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779), and Oscar II of Sweden (1829). After him are Charles XII of Sweden (1682), Ingrid Bergman (1915), Bridget of Sweden (1303), Tomas Tranströmer (1931), Sigismund III Vasa (1566), and Ingvar Kamprad (1926).

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Among DIPLOMATS In Sweden

Among diplomats born in Sweden, Dag Hammarskjöld ranks 1. After him are Raoul Wallenberg (1912), Alva Myrdal (1902), Folke Bernadotte (1895), and Hans Blix (1928).

Swedish born Diplomats

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