Dag Hammarskjold: 'Virtuoso of multilateral diplomacy.' (Former United Nations Secretary General)

Thirty years have passed since the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold, was killed in a tragic air. plane crash in southern Africa. in September 1961, he was on a peace mission to the then troubled nation of the Congo.

For eight years, Dag Hammarskjold, who has been described as a twentieth century Renaissance man skilled in arts and languages and striving for a spiritual goal for most of his life to make the world a better place, was the moving spirit of the UN. By any standard, he was an exceptional international leader.

In part, that can be attributed to Hammarskjold's background and upbringing. His personal qualities, including a deep sense of moral responsibility, obviously played a major role in his becoming a political figure of such dimension.

The Hammarskjold family belonged to Sweden's high noble class and excelled in civil and public service arenas for almost 500 years.

Dag Hammarskjold's father, Hjalmar, served as Prime Minister of Sweden during the First World War. His three brothers were also prominent Swedes: Bo, a diplomat; Ake, a judge of the International Court of Justice; and Sten, a journalist and novelist.

In 1917, the elder Hammarskjold became Provincial Governor in Uppsala. The family lived in a castle, and it was there that Dag spent most of his childhood. This highly spiritual, somewhat solitary environment may have instilled in him a sense of loneliness and separation. It also may have enhanced the spiritual quest which dominated his adult years.

At Uppsala University in the mid-1920s, Dag studied political economy, philosophy, literature and French. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in law after only two years and went on to obtain a Master's degree in political economy in 1930, at the age of 25. His mind was described as "razor sharp" by a fellow classmate.

Mr. Hammarskjold moved on to the University of Stockholm, obtaining a Ph.D. in economics in 1934. He became Secretary of the Swedish National Bank in 1935 and was appointed Under Secretary of Finance in 1936.

From 1941 to 1945, he served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank of Sweden. In 1947, he was selected as Under Secretary in Sweden's Foreign Office.

Mr. Hammarskjold launched his international career in the late 1940s. He headed Sweden's delegation to the Organization for European Economic Cooperation and was a delegate to the new Council of Europe. In 1951, Dag Hammarskjold became Vice Minister of Foreign...