The second Secretary General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), was the highest ranking lgbt official in the organisation, though his sexuality was private. Several years ago I produced a hypothetical heraldic achievement for Dag Hammarskjöld based on his family coat of arms. Today we look at his ancestry to discover how significant his family background and ancestry was in determining his career.
Most of Dag Hammarskjöld’s ancestry takes us back to late medieval Sweden and many noble families and military leaders. His father, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862-1953), had perhaps the biggest influence on Dag. Hjalmar served as Prime Minister of Sweden during World War I. He became involved in international diplomacy in 1904 when he was appointed to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, one of the first organisations which oversaw disputes between nations in an attempt to find a peaceful resolution. It still exists, though much of its work is overshadowed by the UN.
Shortly after Hjalmar became Prime Minister in 1914 World War I broke out. However, Hjalmar was accused of being too “friendly” towards Germany and caused a split between himself and his Foreign Minister, leading to his resignation in 1917.
Hjalmar became Chairman of the Nobel Foundation from 1929 to 1947. His son Dag would be awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hjalmar died several months after Dag became Secretary General of the UN.
The known origins of the Hammarskjöld family go back five hundred years. The founder of the dynasty was Peder Mikaelsson (c.1560-1646). Peder was a career soldier who fought in the army of the king of Poland and later the king of Sweden. In 1610 the king of Sweden knighted him and this was when he adopted the family name of Hammarskjöld. Peder was later given lands in Kalmar county in Sweden, some of which are still held by his descendants.
Peder Mikaelsson Hammarskjöld married twice. Descendants of both marriages have provided Sweden with many soldiers, layers and diplomats. Dag Hammarskjöld descends from Peder’s second marriage to Kristina Stjerna, a cousin of his first wife. It is through Kristina that we find the first of Dag Hammarskjöld’s royal bloodlines. Kristina is descended from the 10th and 11th century kings of Sweden, Denmark and France. Through them and the other kings I’ll mention later Dag is descended from the semi-legendary “Peace Kings of Uppsala”, the Ynglings, a sacred pagan dynasty that stretches back into the so-called Dark Ages.
Among Dag’s Scandinavian kingly ancestors was King Harald Blåtand “Bluetooth” (911-986). It is Harald’s name that was given to the modern technological device that many people possess today. The name was chosen because King Harald united several tribes into a united nation.
Once Peder Mikaelsson Hammarskjöld had become a landowning knight with an aristocratic wife he was officially aristocratic himself. His direct descendants married into other aristocratic families. Peder’s great-great-grandson Carl Gustaf Hammarskjöld (1729-1797) rose to become Swedish court Chamberlain. His aristocratic wife was Catharina Breitholtz (1748-1812).
The Brietholtz family can be traced back to the 13th century. They became leading families in what could be regarded as a medieval version of the European Union, the Hanseatic League. This was a network of city states and merchant guilds from around the Baltic and North Seas who travelled and traded all over Europe. They were a dominant economic entity for several centuries and had ports and trading posts in many other European cities, often accompanied by a consulate.
Catharina Brietholtz’s mother, Baroness Eleanore Koskull (1797-1781), has two illegitimate lines of descent from King Erik XIV Gustaf Vasa of Sweden (1533-1577).
Moving onto Dag Hammarskjöld’s mother we find fewer distinguished ancestors but they, none-the-less, still have influential links.
Dag’s maternal grandfather was Gustaf Fridoltz Almqvist (1814-1886). He was a senior lawyer and judge of the Swedish Court of Appeal. He was also a leader in the reform of prisons and the treatment of prisoners. In 1867 he was appointed the Director General of the Prison Care Authority. Among his achievements was the halt to the unnecessary humiliating treatment generally given to prisoners, and in the setting up of education and vocational courses in prisons.
It is Gustaf Almqvist’s wife who provides Dag Hammarskjöld with a really interesting family connection. Gustaf’s wife was Maria “Mina” Grandin. The Grandin family had a very modest background compared to the Almqvists. Mina’s father, or alleged father, if the family legend turns out to be true, was a tailor. However, the identity of Mina’s mother is certain – Maria Blomberg, a maid.
What the family legend says, which Dag Hammarskjöld himself knew about, was that Mina Grandin was the illegitimate daughter of Crown Prince Oskar (later King Oskar II) of Sweden (1829-1907). Oskar was well-known as a womaniser and had several mistresses and known illegitimate children. Both the Almqvist and Hammarskjöld families have done extensive research into the legend and haven’t come up with any proof. The circumstantial evidence of Crown Prince Oskar and Mina’s mother being in the same location nine months before Mina’s birth does nothing to disprove the legend either.
It is known that Crown Prince Oskar knew Gustaf Almqvist and shared his views on prison reform. The fact that Gustaf, a high-flying lawyer and friend of royalty would marry Mina, a former restaurant waitress and daughter of a maid only adds more circumstantial evidence that Mina may have more to her family background than at first appears.
Even without this family legend that Dag’s great-grandfather could have been King Oskar II there’s much in his ancestry to show a family tradition of service to the crown and country. From the Peace Kings of Uppsala, the unifying King Harald Bluetooth, the international Hanseatic League, to the Premiership of Sweden and Chair of the Nobel Foundation, Dag Hammarskjöld’s ancestry led him to the United Nations and his Nobel Peace Prize.
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