Åke Wilhelm Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (10 April 1893 – 7 July 1937) was a Swedish lawyer and diplomat. He was the first Registrar of the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

, serving from 1922 to 1936, when he was elected to the position of judge to the same court. He served in the latter position until his death.

Life

Åke Hammarskjöld was born in 1893 in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

. He studied at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

for a career in the foreign service. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was a member of a committee of the Swedish government which worked out the basis for Sweden's participation in the legal organization of the postwar order. After the war, he served as secretary of the delegation of his country at the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

. From 1920 he worked in the secretariat of the newly formed

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in drafting the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice and organizing the first elections of judges to the court. In 1922 he was appointed Registrar of the court by the Secretary General of the League of Nations. In 1936 he taught as a lecturer at the

Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law () is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External ...

. On October 8 of the same year he was elected as a judge of the

. He died nine months later in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, at the age of 44. His father,

Hjalmar Hammarskjöld Knut Hjalmar Leonard Hammarskjöld (; 4 February 1862 – 12 October 1953) was a Swedish politician and scholar who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. He was a member of the Riksdag from 1923 to 1938 in the first chamber ...

, was

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister of Sweden (, "minister of state") is the head of government of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to th ...

from 1914 to 1917. His brother Dag was the second

Secretary General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

from 1953 to 1961, and his granddaughter Elinor was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for

Legal Affairs ''Legal Affairs'' was an American legal magazine that was launched under the auspices of Yale Law School, and which later became an independent non-profit venture with an educational mission. As the first general-interest legal magazine, ''Legal A ...

in 2025.

Awards and honors

Åke Hammarskjöld became a member of the Institut de Droit International in 1925. The universities of

Berne Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the " federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental i ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

each awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Works

* ''Some Facts About the World Court.'' New York 1927 * ''La Cour permanente de justice internationale á la neuvième session de l'assemblée de la Société des nations.'' Brüssel 1928 * ''La Protection des populations civils contre les bombardements.'' Genf 1930 (als Mitautor) * ''Juridiction internationale. Précédé d'une étude sur l'auteur.'' Leiden 1938

References

* ''Biographical Notes concerning Members of the Court. M. Åke Hammarskjöld, Member of the Court.'' In: ''Thirteenth Annual Report of the Permanent Court of International Justice.'' A.W. Sijthoff's Publishing, Leiden 1937, S. 25/26 * Max Huber: ''Åke Hammarskjöld in Memoriam.'' In: ''Nordisk Tidsskrift for International Ret.'' 8(1)/1937. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, S. 133−137, {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammarskjold, Ake 1893 births 1937 deaths Diplomats from Uppsala 20th-century Swedish diplomats Members of the Institut de Droit International Permanent Court of International Justice judges Burials at Uppsala old cemetery Swedish judges of international courts and tribunals

Ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...

Children of prime ministers of Sweden Swedish jurists