D O C U M E N T 1 6 9 J A N U A R Y 1 9 2 6 3 0 9 [2]The most important issue on the agenda was the question of how to instruct children and youth in the activities and aims of the League of Nations (see Vossische Zeitung, 15 January 1926, ME, and 16 January 1926). [3]Émile Meyerson. An appointment slip in an unknown hand which states that Meyerson will await Einstein at 6 P.M. is extant (AD [18 278]). [4]Alfredo Rocco. At the meeting of the ICIC, Einstein and Marie Curie had protested against his recent appointment as Italy’s representative to the ICIC and to the IIIC. Rocco had replaced Francesco Ruffini, a prominent opponent of Benito Mussolini. In Curie’s opinion, committee members should be independent of their respective governments. Einstein objected to the appointment for ideological reasons. He even proposed himself as a representative of the institute instead of Rocco. However, the Italian government had threatened to leave the League of Nations if Rocco’s appointment was not confirmed, and he thus became a member (see Nathan and Norden 2004, p. 97, and Grundmann 2004, p. 315). According to the minutes of the session, Rocco and Einstein seem to have differed on the issue of the powers of a planned committee of experts on how to advance the idea of the League of Nations among young people (see Abs. 263). [5]Einstein had voiced his concern about the location of the institute in Paris the previous year (see Doc. 165, note 8). The inauguration ceremony took place in the reception hall of the Palais Royal and was attended by Gaston Doumergue, president of the French Republic, by diplomats and political rep- resentatives from more than one hundred nations, and by an international array of scholars, authors, artists, and delegations from academic organizations. Germany’s official envoy at the inauguration was Thomas Mann. Einstein’s entrance to the hall drew much attention from the attendees. At 4 P.M., the “Marseillaise” was played and president Doumergue, Édouard Daladier, minister of education, Paul Painlevé, president of the institute’s administrative council and the diplomats entered the hall. In his speech, Daladier officially handed over the institute to the League of Nations in the name of France. Both Vittorio Scialoja, president of the Council of the League of Nations, and Sir Eric Drum- mond, secretary general of the League of Nations, thanked the French government. Hendrik A. Lorentz then addressed the audience on behalf of the ICIC and spoke of the new institute’s role. Pain- levé stressed the international character of the institute and the importance of a non-Frenchman being elected president. An address by the institute’s director, Julien Luchaire, concluded the ceremony. The musical interludes included pieces by Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, and Schumann (see Vossische Zei- tung, 15 and 17 January 1926, and Berliner Tageblatt, 17 January 1926, ME). [6]Julien Luchaire. [7]See Doc. 167. [8]On attempts to overcome the exclusion of German and Austrian scholars by the rest of the inter- national scientific community, see Doc. 58, note 11. [9]Fritz Haber (1868–1934) was director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physikalische und Elektrochemie. [10]Einstein was welcomed at a reception of the Association France-Palestine, whose chairman was the former minister for labor and hygiene Justin Godart. Also in attendance were Paul Lapie Leon Brunschvicg, rector and Professor of Philosophy at the Sorbonne Leon Blum, leader of the French socialists Jacques Hadamard and Charles Gide, Professor of Comparative Social Economics at the Sorbonne. Einstein gave a lecture on the present state and needs of the Hebrew University. The asso- ciation intended to be instrumental in the establishment of a national French committee for the advancement of the Hebrew University and its library (see Abs. 260, and L’Homme libre and Berliner Tageblatt, 20 January 1926, EE). [11]Louis Louis-Dreyfus. Alice Steinhardt-Koch (1893–1975) and Paul Koch (1890–?) were cous- ins of Einstein. S. Ogden Steinhardt (1882?–1965) was Alice’s husband. [12]Paul Lapie (1869–1927), see preceding document. Robert Eisler, see also Abs. 445 and 541. [13]Paul Langevin. Jacques Hadamard. [14]Gerhart von Schulze-Gaevernitz. [15]Elsa’s fiftieth birthday was on 18 January.
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