Dag Hammarskjöld’s place in history eder Mikaelsson was knighted In Old Europe as well as the developing By John Bechtel in 1610 for providing five fully- Americas, to distinguish themselves Parmed men to fight for King from such commoners, members of the Freelance Writer Sigismund III Vasa, who was also the nobility and their families took great PHOTO: COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG PHOTO: King of Poland at the same time. To be pains to shield themselves from the Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Sweden’s more precise, not one to take chances sun, their pale complexions and dark Prime Minister from 1914-1917. on outcomes, Peder fought on both veins marking them as “blue bloods” or PHOTO: RICARDO FEINSTEIN PHOTO: sides of the conflict later called the War aristocrats. Nobles were not to perform Dag considered Uppsala Castle Uppsala Castle, Dag’s childhood home during the time his father Hjalmar was Against Sigismund (a war to remove a manual labor. That is what serfs (or his childhood home while his father Governor of Uppsala County. king from office). servants) were for. was Governor of Uppsala County. [Readers may recognize the Wikipedia lists 45 noteworthy Hjalmar was appointed ambassador If it seems odd that one of There have been thirteen Chairmen Sigismund name from an SP feature members of the Hammarskjöld noble to Copenhagen. From 1914 to 1917, at the nominating committees was of the Nobel Foundation’s board since article in the Fall of 2018 entitled “THE family since then, and no less than the peak of WWI, he served as Prime Norwegian, for a mainly its inception in 1900. The fourth DELUGE’ (1655-1660)—When Sweden twelve of them were soldiers or officers, Minister of Sweden. The following year, Swedish organization, was Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, overwhelmed Poland.” You can read and eleven more have been involved 1918, he was selected to be a lifetime bear in mind that Prime Minister of Sweden that article here: https://tinyurl.com/ in Swedish government, including one member of the prestigious Swedish it took almost five from 1914-1917, and y7aljdyk.] Prime Minister. Other occupations Academy (more about that below). years for the Nobel Dag’s father. The Peder Mikaelsson was granted a were judge, architect, lawyer, physician, Foundation, the following year, 1918, couple manors and given the name of He was the Chairman of the Nobel banker, and engineer. In the modern Foundation from 1929 to 1947. investment and Hjalmar was elected Hammarskiöld (with several variations industrial age, members of the nobility administrative arm to the Swedish in spelling since then). You might think are frequently found among the The Hammarskjölds of the Nobel legacy, Academy, one of only of this in a modern context as being diplomatic services, graduates of the to be established on 18 people selected for gifted with some substantial acreage best schools, and distinguished by their and the Nobel Foundation June 29, 1900. At that life at this post, with the and two small rural villages as well as refined manners and impeccable social Alfred Nobel was born in 1833, and time, Norway was still responsibility of choosing the legal right to the occupants’ labor. skills. They are generally expected to seek became a chemist and inventor and a part of Sweden. Five laureates for the Nobel Prize It was a start. There were always more high office or prominent positions where armaments manufacturer, eventually years later, in 1905, the union in Literature. The Hammarskjöld wars to expand one’s real estate. their family connections will prove most holding 355 patents, including the of Norway and Sweden was dissolved, family functioned at the highest levels As in most parts of Europe, nobles useful. In some cases, restrictions are most valuable, for dynamite. In 1896, and the awarding of the Nobel prizes of Swedish society initially were ordinary soldiers who placed on whom they are permitted to he died of a stroke, but in his last were skilled enough, or lucky enough, was split between the two countries, There have been eight Executive marry, at the very least, someone from a will he made provision for 94% of to return alive from combat in service with Norway responsible for the Nobel Directors of the Nobel Foundation comparable level of society. all of his assets to be used to award to a chieftain. There were no standing Peace Prize, and Swedish organizations since its inception. Each of these was armies, and the kings rarely had cash five prizes each year in the fields of responsible for all the others. chosen by the board members at the chemistry, physics, literature, medicine/ with which to pay their soldiers. Hjalmar Hammarskjöld The Nobel Foundation does not time, from among themselves. One physiology, and peace. A sixth one participate in any way with the Compensation for service was land or Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Dag’s father, member was Chairman of the board, was born in 1862, became a serious was added later, for economics. Four selection of the laureates, but it handles treasure seized from others, the losers and another was Executive Director. student and scholar, and, by 1891, was different organizations would nominate almost everything else. It has a Board in the skirmishes or wars. During the As with the post of Chairman, the medieval era, soldiers quickly realized a professor at Uppsala University, the laureates; three Swedish organizations of Directors of five persons. One Executive Directors were drawn from that an estate was more valuable if it oldest and most prestigious in Sweden. and one Norwegian, as follows: of those five serves as Chairman of came with laborers, those who would He acquired a reputation as an expert • Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska the Board, appointed by the King in among aristo polloi of Swedish society. perform the manual labor on the farms. in international law, and by 1904, Institute (Swedish): Physiology or Council (the King’s cabinet). The other From 1946-1948, Sven Hammarskiöld Farm laborers worked outside under became a member of the Permanent Medicine four board members are chosen by the served as Executive Director at the the hot sun and became deeply tanned. Court of Arbitration at The Hague. The • Swedish Academy: Literature trustees of the awarding organizations same time that Hjalmar Hammarskjöld PHOTO: COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG PHOTO: In the agricultural American South, for next year, in 1905, Norway achieved its • Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: listed above. The board’s first duty is was Chairman of the Board. Dag Hammarskjöld in front of the Unit- instance, such lower-caste workers were independence from Sweden, and his son Chemistry, Physics to select an Executive Director from Even though special legal rights ed Nations building in NYC, 1953. pejoratively referred to as “red necks.” Dag was born. • Norwegian Nobel Committee: Peace among themselves. (Continued on page 00) O WINTER 2019-2020 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | WINTER 2019-2020 O (Continued from page 00) and the U.S. State Department concluded that Dag Hammarskjöld for the nobility ended in 2003, there “may be as good as we can get.” endured a social nobility by birth to _______________________________ affluent families and the advantages When Dag got the first phone call that such wealth makes possible, such informing him of his selection on April 1, as attending the best schools both at 1953, he thought it was an April Fools’ home and abroad, and the network Day prank. He set about organizing of future contacts while there that his staff of 4,000, and emphasizing his often opened exceptional doors of “common touch” by eliminating his career opportunity and prospective private elevator, shaking hands with honors. The Hammarskjölds were a everyone, and eating in the cafeteria. family blessed with such good fortune. Five years later he began a second term, Hjalmar’s son Dag was his youngest having been unanimously reelected. of four children. Educated at Uppsala _______________________________ University, Dag worked at a variety of Like Trygve Lie, Dag Hammarskjöld government posts, until, in 1951, he was not destined to complete his led the Swedish delegation to the U.N. second term. Two years into it, he was General Assembly, and the following thrust into the Belgian Congo crisis, year became the chair of that delegation. EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG PHOTO: the front lines of what we might now Six years after Hjalmar Hammarskjöld Overlooking the East River, the United Nations building dominates New York call the decolonization of Africa. Dag retired as Chairman of the Nobel City’s skyscape. It has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. had already flown into the Congo Foundation, his son Dag, at 47 years four times in attempts to defuse the of age, was appointed as the second and found refuge, first in France, and crisis, and the Soviet Union had Secretary-General of the United then in Norway on Lie’s invitation in denounced his decision to send a U.N. Nations, in the spring of 1953. He was 1935. Under political pressure from the peacekeeping force there, demanding the youngest in that position in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was expelled from Dag’s resignation. The world was locked history of the United Nations, before or Norway the next year, and he found in a battle of two superpowers, who since. Six months later, on October 12, his last refuge in Mexico, where he was fought their battles by proxy, often Africa, 1960 1953, Hjalmar died, and the next year murdered by a Soviet agent in 1940. in remote places, usually where vital Dag was elected to replace his father In 1950, Lie was voted into a second resources were at stake.