1961–2 Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the UN 1953–1961

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (29 July 1905–18 September 1961), Swedish economist and diplomat served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. The youngest person to have held the Secretary-General post, only 47 years old when appointed in 1953. Second term was cut short when he died in the crash of his DC-6 airplane in Northern Rhodesia while en route to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis. The only person in history to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. Referred to as one of the two best secretaries-general of the United Nations, his appointment was mentioned as the most notable success for the UN. President John F. Kennedy called him “the greatest statesman of our century.”