Remembering Dag Hammarskj?ld

As the world waits to learn of the next Nobel Peace laureate in October, in the midst of this global pandemic which keeps reminding us of our common humanity and the need for concerted leadership for peace and prosperity globally, let’s remember Dag Hammarskj?ld whose untimely death occurred this day, 18th September, 1961 near Ndola, Zambia.

He received the award posthumously in 1961 (the only such award from the Nobel Committee). The Committee cited his achievements as follows:

"For having built up an efficient and independent UN Secretariat, and for having taken an independent line towards the great powers. He was also praised for having organized a peacekeeping force in the Middle East after the Suez crisis, and for his commitment to peace during the civil war in the Congo.”

Years ago, Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprian_Davis) gave me a copy of Hammarskj?ld’s book: “Markings.” I was deeply impressed by his style of servant leadership. When I signed on to use my global finance expertise to help in the Zambia Copper Belt, I used to spend some time at the Hammarskj?ld’s memorial site in Ndola. Let us hear from him how he arrived at this leadership understanding:

“From generations of soldiers and government officials on my father’s side I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country – or humanity. This service required a sacrifice of all personal interests, but likewise the courage to stand up unflinchingly for your convictions. From scholars and clergymen on my mother’s side, I inherited a belief that, in the very radical sense of the Gospels, all men were equals as children of God, and should be met and treated by us as our masters in God.”

As we support the Bretton Woods Institutions which have helped us to keep peace in the world (recalling the IMF’s role in the Suez crisis in 1956), let’s combine the Hammarskj?ld leadership style with the financial foundations that John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White laid for us, updating them to reflect current realities to achieve a stronger framework for an inclusive multilateral cooperation.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1961/hammarskjold/facts/