The International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IICI) was created in 1924 following an appeal for aid to Member States and to private associations by the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) during a 1923 meeting. The Council of the League of Nations, recognizing the lack of resources and aware of the need for a permanent secretariat with dedicated funds and staff to execute the programme of the ICIC, accepted an offer of assistance from the French government to establish an executing agency for the Committee: the IICI. In exchange, the French stipulated that the headquarters of the IICI should be located in Paris. The official resolution for the founding of the IICI was adopted by the Council on 9 September 1924.
The Institute was installed in the Royal Palace at 2, rue Montpensier in Paris and was tasked with executing the decisions and recommendations of the Committee. For more information about its roles and functions, see here.
Entrance to the IICI at the Royal Palace.
Activity of the Chilean National Commission (press clipping, 1937 : IICI-A-III-62-1)
The Member States established national commissions for intellectual cooperation and appointed delegates to represent their interests within the IICI. The National Commissions were a key conduit of action for the IICI. Their number as well as role increased over the years.
The Report of the National Commissions on their activities in 1937-1938 reveals that the national commissions became active agents for international cooperation, studying and performing at the national level the same problems and issues addressed by the Institute. By 1939, 44 delegates and 45 national commissions worked with the Institute.
Delegates of the National Commissions met several times in Warsaw (July 1926), Geneva (July 1929), and Paris (July 1937). A final conference planned by the Executive Committee for 1940 could not take place due to political circumstances.
The IICI held an autonmous status separate from both the League of Nations and its host country France. It liaised directly with governments of different countries in the examination and execution of its tasks.
In accordance with its Rules of Procedure, the Institute was led by an Administrative Council, whose members were those of the ICIC and who were directed by a member of the ICIC of French nationality. The Administrative Council also appointed an Executive Committee, approved by the Council of the League of Nations, consisting of five members of different nationalities, who met at least every two months. The meetings of both the Executive Committee and the Administrative Council were chaired by a President.
In addition to this internal structure, the IICI liaised with the International Bureaux Section of the League of Nations, which acted as the Secretariat of the ICIC in Geneva.
