Hammarskjöld, Knut Hjalmar Leonard

Born Feb. 4, 1862, in Väderum, county of Kalmar; died Oct. 12, 1953, in Stockholm. Swedish statesman and jurist; member of the Swedish Academy (from 1918).

Hammarskjöld graduated from the University of Uppsala in 1880. In 1886 he became an assistant professor of civil law and in 1891 a full professor at the university. He served as minister of justice in 1901–02 and as minister of education in 1905. He was Sweden’s ambassador to Denmark from 1905 to 1907. From 1914 to 1917, Hammarskjöld was prime minister and (simultaneously, in 1914) war minister. Hammarskjöld was a Conservative and followed a pro-German policy. Under popular pressure, Hammarskjöld’s government was forced to resign. Hammarskjöld retired from political life after 1917.