84 D O C U M E N T 34 J U L Y 1925 acquainted with contemporary civilisations, and thus there would be created a kind of international staff which wouldd at the same time remain faithful to its own national ideals. [1] M. Ein s t e in wished to support the proposals made by M. Barány. It was notorious that historical instruction was not at the moment conducted on sufficiently broad enough lines. Historians were not sufficiently free from prejudice and it seemed impossible to [2] attain impartiality. It was necessary to found some kind of Institution which should be entirely free and to appoint men according to their qualifications and without regard to their opinions. M. De Ha l e c k i agreed with the proposals of M. Destrée and M. Luchaire and said that there were in Poland two schools of political science which covered the whole field of international problem s. one W a r s a w an d th e o th er a t C ra co w Published in League 1925b, p. 10. [84 701]. [1]Einstein made this statement at the second meeting of the sixth session of the ICIC, held on 28 July 1925 in Geneva. The statement formed part of a discussion on the “Scheme for the Establish- ment of an International University for the Education of Statesmen, Diplomats, Politicians, Political Writers, Professors of Political Science in High Schools, etc., submitted by M. Barány.” Robert Bárány (1876-1936) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish otologist, professor at the Otologi- cal Institute at the University of Uppsala, and winner of the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1914. In his proposal, Bárány urged “the creation of an international university for the training of statesmen, diplomats, politicians, professors in the higher schools of political science and political ed- itors.” He believed that only if all those involved in international politics were to receive the identical, high-quality, and nationally neutral education and training could conflicts between nations be pre- vented. His proposed budget for the university was $300 million. Other members of the committee did not reject Bárány’s proposal outright, yet it did not garner substantial support. Following its discussion, the committee decided “that this proposal goes beyond the limits of the schemes to be considered at the present moment, but that its underlying idea has sufficient interest for the question to be examined thoroughly...” The committee resolved to ask the IIIC to investigate the feasibility of establishing sim- ilar institutions “within more modest limits” (see League 1925b, pp. 6, 9-11, and 26-29). [2]Bárány’s proposal had stressed the importance of teaching history at the new university in a neu- tral manner, “free from all ultra-nationalistic tendencies.” Julien Luchaire, who spoke immediately prior to Einstein, also emphasized the importance of “improving the teaching of history” (see League 1925b, pp. 10 and 28). For Einstein’s long-standing view of historians as being “mainly chauvinistic hotheads” (“grösstenteils chauvinistische Hitzköpfe”), particularly in Berlin, see Einstein to Hendrik A. Lorentz, 2 August 1915 (Vol. 8, Doc. 103). 34. To Michele Besso Genf, 28. VII. 25. Lieber Michele! Ich hatte unbedingt im Sinne, Dich bei der Gelegenheit der Session der C. d C. I.[1] in Bern zu besuchen, aber es geht nun nicht, weil meine Buben unge- duldig auf mich warten, und ich unbedingt Mileva und Grossmann besuchen muss, welch letzterer sehr leidend ist.[2] Dann muss ich gleich nach Kiel fahren. Ich hätte Dir gern mündlich das Ei vorgeführt, das ich letzthin gelegt habe, so thue ichs nun schriftlich.[3]
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