HAMMARSKJOLD, Dag

From a background in university teaching in the 1930s and 7 years as chairman of the Swedish National Bank, Dag Hammarskjold moved into politics, initially in Sweden and subsequently in the Council of Europe and the United Nations where he was Secretary General from 1953 until his death in a (suspicious) air crash in 1961. His economic and political skills were accompanied less visibly by his moral and religious musings - Markings - which were collaboratively translated and introduced by W H Auden. From his belongings retrieved from the crash it is evident that whilst in the air he was working on a translation of Martin Buber's I and Thou

Life

• Brief biography of Hammarskjold from Spartacus Educational

• Dag Hammarskjold's life and legacy

• Official UN biography of Hammarskjold

• Interview with Hammarskjold's biographer Roger Lipsey

Writings

• Markings

Video

Dag Hammarskjold on the United Nations (2 mins)