One hundred years ago, the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation opened its doors

The IIIC was led successively by three Directors: Julien Luchaire (1926-1930), Henri Bonnet (1931-1940/1945) and Jean-Jacques Mayoux (1945-1946). Around them, a broad network of national commissions and eminent personalities worked hand-in-hand with the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) in Geneva: Henri Bergson served as ICIC President (1922-1925), while Albert Einstein and Marie Curie were ICIC members. Alongside them, voices from diverse regions and disciplines enriched the Institute's programmes and sub-committees: Gabriela Mistral (Chilean poet, Nobel 1945), Rabindranath Tagore (Indian poet and educator, Nobel 1913), Kristine Bonnevie (Norwegian biologist), Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Indian philosopher, later President of India), Inazō Nitobe (Japanese educator and League official), Jagadish Chandra Bose (Indian physicist and botanist), Béla Bartók (Hungarian composer), Thomas Mann (German writer, Nobel 1929) and Paul Valéry (French poet and essayist). Some served on the Committee in an institutional capacity; others contributed through surveys, reports, lectures and publications.