The politics of interwar chemistry

In 1925, the Dutchman Ernst Julius Cohen (1869-1944) was unanimously elected president of the IUPAC (in absence) at the annual meeting in Bucharest. Although quite well known as able linguist, physical chemist and student of J.H. van ‘t Hoff, no one could have suspected this turn of events three years earlier. On 21 June 1922, Cohen had organized an informal, purely scientific meeting in Utrecht— the International Chemical Reunion Utrecht (ICRU)—to restore friendly relations between scientists from all previously warring nations. However, Belgian and French chemists, headed by Jean Timmermans and Charles Moureu, boycotted this meeting as they had not yet forgotten the atrocities of the ‘chemists’ war.’ At the subsequent IUPAC meeting in Lyon (27 June - 1 July), Cohen, together with Hugo Kruyt, had to fend off harsh criticisms by their international colleagues [1].

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The Garden Party at Wiltzangk

Smit¹

2022

Chemistry International

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What is the story behind this photo, of the “Garden party at Wiltzangk”? It first caught my attention over eight years ago when I was researching interwar chemistry during my studies. Since then, I moved to post-war science policy in my PhD, and the photo faded into the margins of my attention. Yet recently the image of this fabulous garden party came back to me—and I finally wondered what was actually going on there [1].

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The politics of interwar chemistry

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

A Hundred Years Ago: The Birth of the IAU as a Model for Other Scientific Unions (1919)

A Hundred Years Ago: The Birth of the IAU as a Model for Other Scientific Unions (1919)

Ernst Cohen and the Challenge of a Truly International Union

The Garden Party at Wiltzangk

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