The Bibliotheca Alexandrina celebrates the centenary of Dag Hammarskjöld
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Alexandria, 27 April 2005—On the occasion of the centenary of Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1953-1961, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is organizing a celebration to honor the renowned international figure on 28 April 2005, in collaboration with the Swedish Institute in Alexandria. Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and Ambassador Stig Elvemar, the Swedish Ambassador in Cairo, will be among the participants. The centenary celebration includes speeches, lectures and discussions, in addition to an exhibition.
Dr. Serageldin will inaugurate the celebration with his speech, “Paths to Community—or parting of the ways”, that sheds light on Dag Hammarskjöld and the role he played during his work in the United Nations. It will be followed by Ambassador Elvemar, who will speak on “Celebrating Dag Hammarskjöld and honoring his legacy”. Ambassador Amin Shalaby, Executive Director, Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Cairo will then proceed with his speech entitled “The Power of Persuasion; Diplomacy and the International Community—Hammarskjöld’s Legacy—Nostalgia for a lost era or lessons for future implementation?”. Ambassador Shalaby is author of Dag Hammarskjöld—hayatuhu wa fikruhu (“Dag Hammarskjöld—his life and thought”), the first major study of Hammarskjöld in Arabic. A discussion, chaired by Ambassador Pierre Schori, UN Special Representative in Cote d’Ivoire, will then follow.
The exhibition, inaugurated on 28 April and held up to 5 May, is a traveling exhibition produced by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in close collaboration with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Institute. Its purpose is to draw attention to Hammarskjöld’s achievements as the UN Secretary-General and to spread knowledge about the UN.
Hammarskjöld, one of the most admired and respected international figures of the 20th Century, carried out many responsibilities for the United Nations in the course of its efforts to prevent war and serve the other aims of the Charter. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after his death in 1961.