Union Académique Internationale

The Union Académique Internationale (UAI)—in English, International Union of Academies—is a federation of many national academies and international academies from more than 60 countries all over the world which works in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Union wants to create an international collaboration between its Member Academies, offering to them a chance to meet and work together on projects of medium and long term and enabling them to participating to the great national and international movement of scientific research. Its purpose is to encourage cooperation in the advancement of studies through collaborative research and joint publications in those branches of humanities and social sciences promoted by the Academies and Institutions represented in the UAI: philology, archaeology, history, moral sciences and political sciences. The UAI works to promote the advancement of knowledge and scientific exchanges and to support initiatives of all its academies.

French is the official language of the union.

The UAI was founded in 1919 on the initiative of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. After 4 years of war, the world was longing for peace and understanding between nations. With this in mind, international cooperation was to be promoted in all areas and at all levels, including those of intellectual and scientific work. At a meeting held in Paris in May 1919 the draft statutes were prepared. Later on, they were revised and adopted at a second meeting held again in Paris from 15 to 18 October 1919. The proposed project envisaged international academic cooperation in the area of the humanities. During the assemblies, representatives of National Academies from eleven countries have adhered to the Union (Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia, the United States) and National Academies of three other countries gave their agreement without being represented (Spain, Norway and Romania). Later on that same year, Jugoslavia and Portugal adhered to the Union. Currently, the UAI has members from more than 60 countries all over the world.

The first general assembly was held in Brussels from 26 to 28 May 1920 where the Belgian historian Henri Pirenne was elected the first president. The administrative seat of the Union was established in the Palace of Academies in Brussels. The Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique is in charge of the secretariat of the UAI and its Permanent Secretary is the ex officio General Secretary.

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