Swedish Rugs 4 Letters

Swedish Rugs 4 Letters – Shortly after starting this blog, I found a photo of a wonderful mid-century Swedish rug that I was selling with F.J. Hakimian in New York. Joseph Hakimian (1943 -2019) was one of the first New York carpet dealers to develop an interest in mid-century Swedish rugs, and his firm still owns them today. Hakimian traveled to Sweden several times and met several designers as he began collecting these rugs. When a large carpet once owned by former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld went up for auction in Sweden, he was the buyer.

The rug was made by Edna Martin, a famous Swedish textile artist, but I couldn’t find anything written about it. Thus began my search for information about this rug and I found out about Hammarskjöld and Edna Martin. A series of blog posts will document my quest to learn more about this rug and its owner, as well as to see the design of the rug. It will consist of three parts – it’s been a long chase!

Swedish Rugs 4 Letters

Edna Martin, Pile Rug for Dag Hammarschel, by FJ Hakimian 12-3″ x 18′ or 368 x 556 cm. The name of the rug is “Läggspel, delivered to Hammarschel, 1954.

Round Abc Rug

Dag Hammarskjöld, first official portrait taken at the United Nations, 11 April 1953, UN Photo #57726, photographer identified as “ES”.

Dag Hammarskjöld is one of the most famous Swedes of his generation. He served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in September 1961. He was born in 1905 in Uppsala, Sweden, where his father was a provincial governor, and he lived in the family house number 16. century castle. His father, who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914-17, came from a noble family. At the age of 22, Hammarskjöld studied French literature, social philosophy, and political economy, studied law at the prestigious Uppsala University, and was recognized as one of the brightest minds of his generation. In addition to English, French, and German, he was fluent in Swedish and took literature and poetry seriously. In 1936, at the age of 28, he obtained a doctorate in economics from Stockholm University and served as secretary of the government’s committee on unemployment. He advanced rapidly in his career and in the late 1930s and 40s simultaneously worked in the world of Swedish finance and the public service, working simultaneously with the Swedish Central Bank and the Riksbank in the Ministry of Finance, eventually becoming a Swedish citizen. Representing various European committees on economic cooperation and post-war reconstruction, including the Marshall Plan Committee. In 1951-2, he served first as vice-chairman and then as chairman of the Swedish delegation to the United Nations. On April 1, 1953, Hammarskjöld was shocked to be told that he had been elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, and he dismissed the announcement as an April Fool’s joke. In fact, on March 31, the UN Security Council voted among four candidates for the position and chose Hammarskjöld. He replied with a telegram that perfectly showed his humility and deep sense of duty.

“I hesitate to accept the nomination because of personal inadequacies, but I do not think I can refuse to fulfill the duties assigned to me if the [UN General] Assembly follows the recommendations of the Security Council.”

The appointment of Dag Hammarskjöld as UN Secretary-General can be understood as either a compromise or a serious misjudgment of the individual, or both. After Trygve Lieu, a mild-mannered Norwegian who served as the first Secretary-General and offended or alienated many with his own personal involvement in UN affairs, Hammarskjöld was offered as almost a seat-holder and not to rock the boat. or attempt to challenge the political position of the major powers. A contemporary British diplomat, Douglas Hurd, recalled that he had hoped that Doug would “exercise the kind of calming influence one would expect from a senior Swedish diplomat”. Well, not so!

The Perfect Kitchen Rug Is Both Pretty And Washable

Hammarskjöld’s first bridge-building work was within the United Nations, where he aimed to meet as many UN workers as possible and organize his staff tightly. But he didn’t do it out of ego. Pauline Frederik, a journalist who worked for the United Nations for many years, described Hammarskjöld as arrogant, condescending and even withdrawn. He recalled one of his most quoted statements: “In my new position, the private individual must disappear and be replaced by an international civil servant.” He considered this statement to be his personal belief. Hammarskjöld also brought to the role of general secretary a strong sense of personal spirituality and a belief in the possibility of peace, perhaps an almost missionary sense.

When Hammarskjöld took over as UN Secretary-General, he inherited the services of another Swede, Per Lind, whose credibility and integrity he trusted. Three years later, Lind returned to Sweden with his family to work for the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send his children to Swedish schools, but Hammarskjöld continued to rely on Lind’s help, especially with business in Sweden. Lind’s name is one we come across quite a few times.

Hammarskjöld strongly believed in a kind of quiet personal diplomacy. He worked behind the scenes to improve relations between Israel and Arab countries; He met personally with China’s Chou En-Lai when the United States was officially refusing to recognize China for the release of fifteen US pilots killed in China during the Korean War; and in 1956, the Israeli, British, and French invasion of Egypt created a United Nations peacekeeping force to resolve the Suez Crisis and attempt to regain control of the Suez Canal. He also went on a 6-week tour of Africa from December 1959 to January 1960, visiting 24 countries to find out about the current political situation, challenges and needs of these countries. At his first stop in Liberia (after a 16-hour flight from New York), he was surprised when the UN staff on the ground asked to meet him at 6:00 a.m. that morning. He asked the gathered staff from various sectors like education, housing, agriculture and forestry to share their views on the local situation. Throughout his visit, he organized these kinds of meetings that were not top-down, but bottom-up, which earned him great respect and loyalty from these UN staff, but also provided valuable local knowledge during meetings with local government officials.

Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash between Leopoldville in the Congo and Ndola in northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on September 18, 1961, while working to bring peace and stability to the newly independent Congo, which was threatened by Belgian military forces. and soldiers of the rebel Congolese army. It was his fourth trip to the Congo, but not everyone was happy with his efforts to bring peace around the world. The Soviet Union resented Hammarskjöld’s personal involvement and decision to send UN troops there, and Belgian mining interests were also disrupted when the Congo gained independence from Belgium in June 1960. There has been considerable mystery surrounding the crash and whether it was truly an accident. , both government commissions and independent authors argue this question. But people in both Congo and Zambia remember Hammarskjöld’s efforts to support African countries emerging from colonial control; Zambia celebrates every year.

Christina, Queen Of Sweden

After hearing the shocking news of the plane crash in which the UN Secretary-General and all 16 passengers died, the world mourned. John Olver, a friend and former assistant to Hammarskjöld, recalled flying his body and the bodies of others from Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) to New York on an almost endlessly huge Pan Am jet, stopping in Geneva, Malmö and Leopoldville. , Stockholm, Dublin and Montreal will take every dead body home. Hammarskjöld’s remains were received by his family and hundreds of mourners, both Swedish and international, at the service in Uppsala.

Unmarried, extremely secretive in his personal life, allergic to inefficiency, obsessed with wasted time and even small talk, Hammarskjöld is an elusive character. Hammarskjöld, who slept very little and was ready to work around the clock when the situation called for it, hoped that his staff would be willing to rise to the same level of self-denial and service. They can be stern and impatient when dealing with staff who are not ready to answer a request for specific information at two in the morning, or who are able to prepare a translation of a text at three, or who have not sufficiently researched the issue. in hand. A strong appreciation of art, literature, poetry, music, and wild places seemed to him to be relaxing and refreshing. Hammarskjöld became a member of the Swedish Academy