Horizon!

"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road."

Dag Hammarskjöld was born on July 29, 1905 and died on September 18, 1961. He was the youngest of four sons of Hjalmar Hammarskjold, prime minister of Sweden 1914-1917.

He was member of the Hague Tribunal, governor of Uppland, chairman of Board of the Nobel Foundation. He gained his degree from Uppsala University in 1925 in the humanities, with emphasis on linguistics, literature, and history. Political economy remained his professional interest for some years, so he took a second degree in economics at Uppsala in 1928. He acquired a law degree in 1930 and a doctoral degree in economics in 1934.

Dag Hammarskjöld taught economics for one year in 1933 in Stockholm University. He devoted 31 years in Swedish financial affairs, Swedish foreign relations and global international affairs. He was the secretary of the Bank of Sweden in 1935. He held the post of undersecretary in the ministry of Finance from 1935-1945 and the head of the Bank of Sweden from 1941-1948. He became the deputy foreign minister in 1951.

Dag Hammarskjold represented Sweden as a delegate to the UN in 1949 and from 1951-1953. He was elected Secretary-General of the UN in 1953 for five years term and re-elected again in 1957. He played a remarkable role in the Middle East politics and Katanga problem in Congo where his airplane crashed on the night of September 17-18. He won the Noble Prize for peace in 1961.

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