Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1961 for his peacekeeping work in the UN.

Dag Hammarskjöld got his degree 1925 at Uppsala University in different subjects including history, linguistics and literature. Further studies led to degrees in economics, law and a Doctor’s degree in economics 1934.

Dag Hammarskjöld worked as State Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of Finance and was active at Riksbanken, the Swedish Central Bank. During the years 1949–1951 he was State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and in 1951 he became a non-political minister. In 1953 he was elected Secretary-General of the UN for a five-year period, and again in 1957 for another period.

As Secretary-General he worked to make the UN more independent and more politically active. In that role he celebrated several personal diplomatic triumphs, including the Suez Crisis, where he set up the first peacekeeping forces. It was Dag Hammarskjöld who introduced UN presence in conflict zones as a new method in the UN’s work. He was also author and translator, and member of the Swedish Academy.

Men in black clothes and top hats place Dag Hammarskjöld's coffin on a raised stand with stairs. Students in student caps stand aroud it, a little further away crowd beyond a picket fence is watching the ceremony.

Dag Hammarskjöld was buried in Uppsala Cathedral. 1,200 students stood along the entire funeral route.

Dag Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia) 1961 in an attempt to solve the on-going Congo Crisis. The same year he was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Search results for Dag Hammarskjöld in the database for digital collections and digitised cultural heritage, Alvin.

Dag Hammarskjöld and Uppsala University today

The Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP)

The Department of Peace and Conflict Research was formed in 1971 to conduct research and provide education on the causes and dynamics of conflicts, peace processes and sustainable peace. The first Dag Hammarskjöld professorship in peace and conflict research was appointed 1985. The unique Conflict Data Program in Uppsala collects freely available information about all on-going conflicts and is used all over the world in research, education and media.

The Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP)

The Dag Hammarskjöld and Law Library

A three-story house surrounded by trees and bushes

The Dag Hammarskjöld and Law Library. Photo: David Naylor

The Dag Hammarskjöld and Law Library is part of Uppsala University Library and was founded in memory of Dag Hammarskjöld. The library has a special Hammarskjöld collection and is also a storage facility for UN material.

The Law Library is a reference library with a large selection of Swedish and international legal literature, Swedish Code of Statutes, government bills and journals.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture

The Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture is given in memory of Dag Hammarskjöld, and in recognition of the values that inspired him personally and as Secretary; compassion, humanism and commitment to international solidarity and cooperation.

The Lecture is co-organised by Uppsala University and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.

Crown Princess Victoria and UN Secretary-General António Guterres walk in a park and chat gleefully. Behind them is a costumed guard in sunglasses and some cars.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres gave the Dag Hammaskjöld lecture in 2018. Here he is seen together with Crown Princess Victoria. Photo: Johan Wahlgren

The Dag Hammarskjöld Library Foundation

The Dag Hammarskjöld Library Foundation was founded in 1990 by Uppsala University, Uppsala municipality and the United Nations Association of Sweden. The foundation’s purpose is to further international understanding and cooperation in the spirit of Dag Hammarskjöld and to ensure that the Dag Hammarskjöld and Law Library remains open to all.