The World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW) is an international federation of scientific associations. It is an NGO in official partnership with Unesco. Its goal is to be involved internationally in all aspects of the role of science, the rights and duties of scientists and their social responsibility. According to some opinions, it was a

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

-era

communist front A communist front is a political organization identified as a front organization under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organizations. They attracted politicized individuals who were not p ...

. The group was said to be composed by a majority of scientists who supported

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, but this was not the criterium for addmitance. The federation opposed

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, Nuclear weapon yield, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detona ...

s conducted by any states.

History

The WFSW was founded at a conference in London held on 20–21 July 1946 at the initiative of the

British Association of Scientific Workers The Association of Scientific Workers (AScW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the National Union of Scientific Workers in 1918, changing its name to the Association of Scientific Workers in 1927. The union largely rep ...

. The original conference was attended by 18 organisations, representing 14 countries.

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

Yearbook on international communist affairs ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs'' is a series of 25 books published annually between 1966 and 1991, which chronicle the activities of communist parties throughout the world. It was published by the Hoover Institution Press, Stanfor ...

1966'' Stanford, Calif., Hoover Institution Press. p.507 The WFSW was accused of toeing the Soviet line during the Cold War (but there is no indication of the source of these accusations). At the time of the

Tito–Stalin split The Tito–Stalin split or the Yugoslav–Soviet split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...

the Yugoslav affiliate was expelled from the Federation. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

it supported the Communist Chinese forces. The Federation protested against restrictions on the free exchange of scientific information or the movement of scientists by the withholding of

visas Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

passports A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

by Western countries, but never by Communist ones. Likewise, the WFSW spoke out against American, British and French

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

, but not against Soviet nuclear testing. During the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

the World Federation of Scientific Workers mobilised its members to send telegrams to

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

and the United Nations condemning the quarantine of Cuba, however they never mentioned the presence of nuclear missiles on the island, nor was any protest sent to

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

. After a series of Soviet nuclear tests in the early 1960s, the president of the Federation wished to protest, and threatened to resign from the organisation, but was over-ruled. That same year the British and French affiliates also threatened to leave if statements kept on being issued without their approval. The WFSW toned down its rhetoric in order to keep its two most important Western members. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

the Federation condemned American aggression and accused the US of breaking international agreements and using biological and

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

weapons. The 1966 Executive Council meeting in East Berlin adopted a "Scientists Statement on Vietnam" signed by 13 scientists – including 9 Nobel Prize winners – calling for financial aid to for laboratories, scientific equipment and scientific books for

Hanoi University Hanoi University (HANU; vi, Đại học Hà Nội) (formerly Hanoi University of Foreign Studies), established in 1959 in Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an ar ...

. The WFSW was also affected by the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

. In 1963 a "Peking center of the World Federation of Scientific Workers" was founded. While it claimed to be an Asian regional branch of the Federation, it was in fact a rival to it. The Peking WFSW held an "International Scientific Symposium" in 1964 and a "Summer Symposium on Physics" on 23–31 July 1966 which was held exclusively for physicists from Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America and drew participants from 33 countries. In September 1966 the Executive Council at

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

established a rival committee for scientific organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.''

1966'' pp.510–1, 518

Organization

The Associations highest body is the general assemble which meets every two to three years. Between meetings of the assembly the organisation is run by the executive council and in between meeting of that body by the bureau.''

1966'' p.508 The Executive Council consisted of 27 members of whom 17 were elected on an individual basis at the general assembly, and ten by regional organisations. The WFSW bureau consisted of the president, vice-presidents, treasurer, the Executive Councils' chairman and vice-chairmen, the chairmen of the editorial board (who also had to be a member of the council) and the head of the regional centers. Further officials – the secretary general, assistant secretary general and five honorary assistant secretaries – are appointed and participate in the work of the bureau with a voice, but no vote. The Executive Council also elects a 16-member editorial board.''

1966'' p.509 The headquarters of the organisation have historically been in London. In 1966 it was located at 40

Goodge Street Goodge Street is a London Underground station on Tottenham Court Road in Fitzrovia, in the London Borough of Camden. It is on the Northern line's Charing Cross branch between Warren Street and Tottenham Court Road stations, and is in Tra ...

London, W1, while the secretary general operated out of an office at 10 rue Vaquelin, Paris 5.''

1966'' p.510 The headquarters have been moved to France and are now at 265 av. de Paris, 93000

Montreuil-sous-Bois Montreuil (), sometimes unofficially referred to as Montreuil-sous-Bois (), is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris in Seine-Saint-Denis. With a population of 109,914 as of 2018, Montreuil is ...

, France – Métro Porte de Montreuil. The WFSW tried to set up regional centers and hold regional meetings. The first regional meeting was at New Delhi in 1955, followed by Prague in 1956, Paris in 1957 and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England in 1961. By 1968 only two regional centers had been established – at New Dehlin and at Cairo.

Presidents

Presidents of the WFSW have included: *1946–1957:

Frédéric Joliot-Curie Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie (; ; 19 March 1900 – 14 August 1958) was a French physicist and husband of Irène Joliot-Curie, with whom he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of Induced radioactivity. T ...

, France (who was also president of the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization with the self-described goals of advocating for universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass ...

at the same time) *1958–1968: Cecil Powell, United Kingdom *1969–1979:

Eric Burhop Eric Henry Stoneley Burhop, (31 January 191122 January 1980) was an Australian physicist and humanitarian. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Burhop was awarded an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship to study at the Cavendish Laboratory under ...

, United Kingdom *1980–1992: Jean-Marie Legay, France *1992–1996: Con Russel, United Kingdom *1996: Masayasu Hazegawa, Japan *1997–2008: André Jaeglé, France *2009–present: Jean-Paul Lainé, France

General Assemblies

The WFSW has held the following assemblies: *London, 20–21 July 1946 *

Dobříš Dobříš (; german: Doberschisch) is a town in Příbram District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,700 inhabitants. It is located south of Prague, and it is a part of the Prague metropolitan area. Administrat ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

September 1948 *Paris and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, April 1951 *

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, September 1953 *

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, September 1955 Beginning with the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

assembly in 1957, each conference was held in conjunction with a scientific symposium on a particular subject. *Helsinki, 1957 "The training of students in science and technology" *

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, 1959 "Science and the development of the economy and welfare of mankind" *Moscow, 1962 "Higher scientific and technological evolution" *Budapest, 1965 "Problems of the advancement of science in the developing countries and the role of scientific cooperation" *

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

1992 * Moscow & Nijni-Novgorod 2013 *

2017

Members

The Federation included affiliated organisations and individual corresponding members. In 1966, there were affiliated organisation in 23 countries and corresponding members in 24 countries in which there were no affiliated groups. Current affiliated organisations include: * – Conseil National des Enseignants du Supérieur * – Fédération nationale des enseignants du supérieur, de la recherche et de l’éducation * – Syndicat National des Chercheurs Permanents * – Syndicat national des enseignants universitaires * – Federación de Sindicatos de Docentes Universitarios de America del Sur * –

Trade Union of Scientific Workers of the Belarusian Academy of Science Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. An early form of trade, barter, s ...

* –

China Association for Science and Technology The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...

* – Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Ciencia * –

General Trade Union of Education, Science and Research A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

– Egyptian Trade Union Federation * – * – Syndicat national de l’enseignement supérieur * – Associação de Bolseiros de Investigação Cientifica * – Federação Nacional dos Professores * – Organizaçao dos Trabalhadores Cientificos * –

Trade Union of Scientific Workers of the Russian Academy of Science Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

* – Syndicat autonome des enseignants du Sénégal * – Syndicat unique et démocratique des enseignants du Sénégal * – Asociación del Personal Investigador del CSIC * �
Sindicat de Treballadores i Treballadors del País ValenciàSindicatos de Trabajadores de la Enseñananza
* –

United States Federation of Scientists and Scholars United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

Other organisations the WFSW relationships with include * – Japan Scientists Association * – Syndicat national de l'enseignement supérieur * – Fédération des Travaill eurs de la Connaissance * –

Academia Oamenilor de Stiintax An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

* – Fédération Générale de l’enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique * – Syndicat nat. des maîtres de conférence et profs. de l'enseignement supérieur

Publications

Periodicals

The WFSW published a magazine, ''Scientific World'', in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Czech. ''Scientific World'' began as a twice yearly publication in 1957, became a quarterly in 1959 and ceased publication in 1993. The WFSW also published an irregular ''Bulletin'' in English, French, German and Russian covering organizational news and was only available to members.

1968'' Stanford, Calif., Hoover Institution Press. p.736

"Science and Mankind"

Beginning in 1957 the WFSW published a series of pamphlets called "Science and Mankind": * Josué de Castro ''Hunger and food'' London, World Federation of Scientific Workers 1958 "Science and Mankind" No. 1 * Ludwik Rajchman ''Science and health'' London World Federation of Scientific Workers 1961 "Science and Mankind" No. 2 * John Bernal ''Science for a developing world; An account of a symposium organised by the World Federation of Scientific workers on 'Science and the development of the economy and welfare of mankind,' Warsaw, September 1959.'' London World Federation of Scientific Workers 1962 *''Training for tomorrow. Extracts from the International Symposium on Higher Scientific and Technological Education, Moscow 1962'' London World Federation of Scientific Workers 1964

Other publications

*''The social responsibility of scientists: report of meeting held in Peking, on 3 April 1956 to celebrate the 10. anniversary of the founding of the World Federation of Scientific Workers'' Peking : All-China Federation of Scientific Societies, 1956 *''Unmeasured hazards; an analysis of the effects of tests of atomic and thermonuclear weapons.'' London: World Federation of Scientific Workers, 1956 (published in English, French, Russian, Chinese, German, and Japanese) *''International Symposium on the Relations Between Science and Technology, 22–26 September'' Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, orld Federation of Scientific Workers1969 * Kurt Baudischl ''ABC weapons, disarmament and the responsibility of scientists: report on an International Conference of the World Federation of Scientific Workers, Berlin (GDR), 21–23 November 1971.'' Berlin] Published by the Executive Council of Gerverkschaft Wissenschaft for the World Federation of Scientific Workers 1971 *''Chemical weapons must be banned! an analysis of the level of development reached in the field of chemical warfare agents, the implications of their use and the possibilities of achieving an unconditional ban on all such agents'' London World Federation of Scientific Workers 1974 *''Ending the arms race, the role of the scientist: with a glossary of terms commonly used in relation to the arms control and disarmament discussions and important statements, resolutions and other documents concerning the disarmament problem'' London: World Federation of Scientific Workers, 1977 *''Proceedings of the Symposium on Science, Technology and Development, Algiers, 9–12 Sep 1978'' London: World Federation of Scientific Workers, 1979 *''International Symposium on Science, Technology, and Development, March 1987: selected papers'' New Delhi: N.P. Gupta, Organising Secretary, 1989

"Science in the Service of Peace"

In addition to its print publications, the WFSW also produced a program "Science in the service of peace" in conjunction with the

International Radio and Television Organisation The International Radio and Television Organisation (official name in French: Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision or OIRT (before 1960 International Broadcasting Organization (IBO), official name in French: ''Orga ...

which was broadcast from Eastern Europe.

References

External links

*
Catalogue of the WFSW archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

Khruschev Receives World Federation Of Scientists (1959)

Pathe News Pathe or Pathé may refer to: * Pathé, a French company established in 1896 * Pathé Exchange, U.S. division of the French film company that was spun off into an independent entity * Pathé News, a French and British distributor of cinema newsr ...

{{Authority control Scientific organizations based in France Organizations established in 1946 Communist front organizations 1946 establishments in England International organizations based in France International scientific organizations