As the executing agency of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC), the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IICI) carried out the Committee's decisions and recommendations. It prepared the work and documents of the sessions of the ICIC and of its expert committees. The Institute was responsible for helping to build intellectual cooperation between nations across the world. Concretely, the Institute supported the ICIC in its aims to foster intellectual exchanges - the sharing and production of information, knowledge, and ideas - in educational, scientific, and cultural domains.
As outlined in its Rules of Procedure, the Institute was to be divided into sections based on different themes: 1) General Affairs; 2) University Relations; 3) Bibliography and Scientific Relations; 4) Artistic and Literary Relations; 5) Legal Affairs; and 6) Information.
As part of its programme, the Institute created surveys and coordinated activities with international intellectual associations. The Institute also assisted in the creation of international agreements and promoted the establishment of forums for thinking and discussion. All of these activities gave rise to a significant body of publications of the IICI, as revealed for example in this 1937 inventory of publications. During its years of existence, the IICI was an active player in building international relationships in its fields of competence. The below are just a few examples of its activities and is not exhaustive.
The documents of the Comité Français de l'Institut international du cinéma éducatif (CFCE) form part of the archives of the IICI. The CFCE was linked to the International Educational Cinematographic Institute (IECI) created in Rome in 1928 with the assistance of the Italian government. Records of the CFCE.
In addition, the IICI maintained a Film Studies Service that explored the influence of cinema in society and its educational role. It produced publications and surveys and participated in the International Congress of the Cinema of Education and Teaching in Rome (21-25 April 1934).
To make visible its work and its concerns, the IICI participated in numerous congresses and exhibitions on topics of international concern, such as industrialization (Liège, 1930), the press (Bakou, 1930), transport and tourism (Poznan, 1930). The IICI also became involved in World's Fairs.
The file contains the preparatory documents of the contribution of the IICI in the 1937 World's Fair, Paris, related to "working-class and peasant life."
The IICI worked to build peace and international understanding through educational means and the dissemination of studies and publications in its different fields of activity.
Education: The Scholastic Information Center created in 1927 promoted its programme through several activities: the dissemination of League of Nations publications, the teaching of principles of the League – through the magazine Recueil pédagogique from 1929 – the development of courses and summer camps, facilitation of school exchanges and trips, and circulation of educational films and children’s literature.
IICI studies focused on the revision of school textbooks and the peaceful uses of radio and cinema. These resulted in reports and publications, such as La révision des manuels scolaires contenant des passages nuisibles à la compréhension mutuelle des peuples or Le rôle intellectuel de la radiodiffusion, and to the meeting of expert committees.
The Committee for Peaceful Uses of Radio published a brochure entitled Broadcasting and Peace, culminating in an international convention on broadcasting and peace under the aegis of the League (signed, however, only by 10 States).
Moral disarmament: A conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments was held in March 1932, after a note prepared by the IICI emphasising the teaching and use of modern means of communication.
Natural Sciences: The IICI published a Bulletin of International Scientific Relations, and studied the preservation of manuscripts and printed material, the coordination of scientific terminologies, or the collaboration between Science Museums.
Literature: Starting in 1932, the IICI published an international repertoire of translations, the Index Translationum, with a view to disseminating the literary heritage of each nation.
Bibliographies, Libraries and Archives: The Institute worked to enhance coordination in the areas of archives, libraries and bibliographies (assisted by the International Library Coordination Service). In the field of archives, the IICI published, with the help of the Committee of Archival Experts, an International Guide to Archives.
Copyright: The IICI advocated for increased protection of intellectual property rights.
A major initiative was the creation, in July 1926, of the International Museums Office (IOM). The IOM’s main activities included the publication of an annual journal, Mouseion, and the production of exhibitions, surveys and international conferences.
The IOM had two main objectives: the conservation and protection of monuments and works of art, especially in wartime, and the international legal protection of public collections.
