Table of contents > Description

"by the term Union the gave expression
to the feelings of fraternity, friendship,
confidence, equality and liberty by which
they were inspired and which continue
to be the inspiration of the federation."

Sir Eric Tuner

The Union Académique Internationale (IUA) (International Union of Academies) was founded on the initiative of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1919. At a meeting held in Paris in May 1919 the draft statutes were prepared. They were later revised and adopted at a second meeting held again in Paris from 15 to 28 May 1920 in Brussels where Henri Pirenne was elected the first President and the administrative seat of the Union established at the Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique at Brussels, of which the Permanent Secretary is the ex officio Administrative Secretary of the IUA.

The aims of the IUA were defined in the Statutes in October 1919 as follows:

The aim of this agreement is to encourage cooperation in the advancement of studies through collaborative research and publications in those branches of learning promoted by the Academies and institutions represented in the IUA - philology, archeology, history, the moral, political and social sciences.

Accordingly, the UAI represents a federation of Academies or groups of Academies having a national character and national learned institutions comparable with them, creatod for international cooperation. The striving for common thinking and collective research of the great problems of nature and mankind is as early as the Academy-viz. Plato's Academy-itself. In the dialogues of Plato it is always a group of thinking men, the pupils of Socrates or his adversaries, who attempt to solve an important question by common efforts in often heated discussions. Not even is the international character missing from Plato's Academy: among his pupils, Persians are also mentioned. Then, common research work was developing further in the School of Aristotle. Thus, the UAI follows an ancient, noble tradition of collective research work which appeared first in Plato's Academy. From 15 in 1920, the number of the member countries of the UAI has now risen to 39.

To realize its aims, the UAI formed the following bodies: a Bureau, an Administrative Secretariat, and a General Assembly; scholarly Committees, Sections, a Managerial Committe, a Committee of Finance and Accounts and ad hoc Committees for new or special projects. With the assistance of these bodies (whose tasks and rights are defined by the Statutes and Regulations), the UAI established collective projects which represent almost without exception fundamental research (critical and facsimile editions of literary and philosophical texts, collections of historical documents and archacological materials, linguistic and archaeological atlases, lexicons, dictionaries, catalogues). From the viewpoint of dependence upon the UAI, the projects are classified by the Regulations (Art. 5 7) into three catogories:

Category A. Projects directly depending on a member Academy. Nevertheless, they are to be approved by the General Assembly of the UAI in order to obtain its patronage. The member Academy nominates a director who is assistod by an international committee which is to be approved by the UAI. An annual report is to be submitted to the General Assembly of the UAI. The finances are assured by the member Academy, the UAI having only scholarly responsibility which in justified cases it also supports by financial aid according to its capabilities.

Category B. Projects directly depending on the UAI which assumes scholarly and financial direction, designates the director and approves the international committee. An annual report has to be submitted to the General Assembly of the UAI. The research and ensuing publications are financed by the UAI according to its capabilities.

Category C. Projects only patronized by the UAI. They are proposed by one or several member Academies. The UAI accords its patronage without any financial commitment. The member Academy designates the director, organizes the work and assures the finances. An annual report is to be submitted to the General Assembly of the UAI.

The member Academies, participating in projects in any of these catogores, finance their own research work and provide the costs of their own publications in the framework of the project concerned.

The organization of the projects may follow different patterns. In general, the director of the project (appointed by a member Academy in Catogories A and C, and by the UAI itself in Category B) may be assisted by an international committee representing the member Academies interested in the project concerned. Sometimes, the international committee may have the character and function of an editorial board. Besides, for the promotion of the project, national committees can also be organized in the participating countries.

The number of projects adopted by the UAI was three in 1920. Up to the Second World War one can observe a slow development (13 projects were adopted altogether). At present, the number of projects of the UAI has risen to 51.

An initiative for a new project can only be taken by a member Academy of the UAI (through its delegate mandated for this purpose) or by the Bureau of the UAI itself. The main requirements of the UAI concerning the adoption of a new project are the following:

The proposal must contain a precise definition of its subject, an explanatory statement, the work plan and an estimate of the expenditure and the financial responsibility for its execution. The project must set and maintain high standards of scholarship and have international character and interest.

The UAI can only realize its projects by the international cooperation of its member Academies. The various forms and possiblities of cooperation have, therefore, great importance from the viewpoint of its further development. If participation can be regarded as a jurisdictional act coming from the President, the General Secretary or the Bureau of a member Academy, then it may be considered as established. The following cases of cooperation may occur:

a) A member Academy directs a project in all respects (it appoints the director, assures the finances and international cooperation, etc.).
b) A member Academy cooperates in a project (directed by another member Academy or the UAI itself) through its research centre.
c) A member Academy assures financial aid to a project (either for the preparation of the manuscript or for its publication).
d) A member Academy as intermediary assures financial aid or the cooperation of researchers of a National Foundation or of a National Research Centre or of a University.
e) A member of a member Academy cooperates in a project by:
1) being a member of the international committee,
2) personally cooperating in a project.
f) A researcher of a member Academy cooperates in a project.

Besides, international cooperation does exist not only between the member Academies within the UAI but also between the UAI on the one hand and the great international organizations like CIPSH and UNESCO and the international disciplinary or interdisciplinary associations on the other hand. The UAI assisted in the foundation of the CIPSH (Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines auprès de l'UNESCO)-International Council of Philosophy and Humanistic Studies in 1949 and, since that time, many projects of the UAI have received financial aid from the CIPSH. Some new projects have been adopted on the initiative of CIPSH and UNESCO, which grant some subventions.

Modest as the scientific budget of the UAI may be, nevertheless it fulfils a very important function: it is like the tip of an iceberg the greatest part of which is invisible. Thus, the budget of the UAI represents only a very small fraction of the sum spent by the member Academies, institutions, research centres and universities for its projects. Its purpose is, however, of vital importance: although it is, above all, a much sought after guarantee of quality which UAI patronage confers, it serves to stimulate and to mobilize those researches which fall within the scope of its activity, throughout the scholarly world.

The scholarly activity of the UAI was never restricted to the study of European culture. Of the 13 projects adopted up to 1935, the subject of thrce concerned extra European cultures: Indonesia, Japan and the Islamic world. Since then the scholarly horizon of the projects of the UAI has essentially widened and at present it comprises besides the cultures of the Ancient Near East and Pre Columbian America those of Iran, India, China, Central Asia, Black Africa and the Pacific area. Thus, the UAI fulfils a very important and noble function: to study, to preserve and to make accessible all the worthy elements of human culture, and society, which mankind has creatod up to now. This task represents an infinite field of research which is, however, still to be conquered.