Youngest Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Who
- Dag Hammarskjöld
- What
- 47, 255 year(s):day(s)
- Where
- Not Applicable
- When
- 10 April 1953
The youngest ever Secretary-General of the United Nations was the Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld (b. 29 July 1905), who was aged 47 years 255 days when he entered office on 10 April 1953.
Dag Hammarskjöld had to navigate a particularly turbulent era in international politics during his tenure as the world’s most senior diplomat. Flashpoints included the 1956 Suez crisis, the aftermath of the Korean War, and independence movements throughout Africa, all alongside the simmering tensions of the early Cold War.
Hammarskjöld’s tenure ended on 18 September 1961, when he was killed in a plane crash while negotiating a cease-fire between warring groups in southern Africa.