Dag Hammarskjold

DAG HAMMARSKJOLD d1961. Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until September 1961. As of 2022, he remains the youngest person to have held the post, having been only 47 years old when he was appointed. His tenure was characterized by efforts to strengthen the newly formed UN both internally and externally. He led initiatives to improve morale and organisational efficiency while seeking to make the UN more responsive to global issues. He presided over the creation of the first UN peacekeeping forces in Egypt and the Congo and personally intervened to defuse or resolve diplomatic crises. His second term was cut short when he died in a plane crash aged 56 on September 18th 1961 whilst en route to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis