Thermoelastic equations without energy dissipation are formulated for a body which has previously received a large deformation and is at nonuniform temperature. A linear theory of thermoelasticity without energy dissipation for prestressed bodies is derived and the uniqueness theorem for a class of mixed initial-boundary value problems is established.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 35L90, 74A15, 80A17.1. Introduction. The so-called second sound effect has been given increasing attention in recent decades. This effect arises from the possible transport of heat by a wave propagation process rather than diffusion. Many articles have been devoted to the development of the generalized theory of thermoelasticity that predicts a finite speed for heat propagation. Lord and Shulman [11], employing a modified Fourier's law, developed what now is known as extended thermoelasticity. Green and Lindsay [6], based on an entropy production inequality proposed by Green and Laws [5], formulated temperature-rate dependent thermoelasticity that includes the temperature-rate among constitutive variables. Lebon [10] formulated heat-flux dependent thermoelasticity on the basis of a nonclassical approach to thermodynamics which includes the heat flux among the constitutive variables and assumes an equation of evolution for the heat flux. All these theories yield governing systems of hyperbolic equations and predict finite speed for heat propagation.Recently, Green and Naghdi [7] reexamined the basic postulates of thermomechanics. They postulated three types of constitutive repose functions for the thermal phenomena and, accordingly, formulated three models of thermoelasticity. The nature of these three types of constitutive functions [8] is that when the respective theories are linearized, model I theory is the same as the classic heat conduction theory (based on Fourier's law); model II theory predicts a finite speed for heat propagation and involves no energy dissipation, now referred to as thermoelasticity without energy dissipation; model III theory permits propagation of thermal signals at both finite and infinite speeds and there is a structural difference between these field equations and those developed in [5,6,10,11]. Ciarletta [3] later formulated a theory of micropolar thermoelasticity without energy dissipation. Detailed and comprehensive references to the developments of generalized thermoelasticity are found in two nice review papers by Chandrasekharaiah [1,2].In this paper, we adapt the postulates made by Green and Naghdi [7] and formulate a thermoelasticity theory without energy dissipation for solids which have previously