From a republic of scholars to a community of researchers

This volume presents the Union Académique Internationale (UAI), an organisation born in the context of the peace movements just after the First World War (1919). Its primary goal is international scientific cooperation via long term projects in the domain of the humanities and social sciences.00To celebrate the centenary of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI) the present volume brings together diverse studies, essays and testimonies offering as many different viewpoints on the history, the realisations and the perspectives of this remarkable institution.0In 1919, just after the end of the Great War, a first group of institutions active in the 'Humanities' strove for lasting peace and decided to collaborate unanimously towards the realisation of a number of large projects in the fields of philology, archaeology, historiography and social sciences. The initiative for this international union of academies (or equivalent institutions) was taken by two prominent figures of the Institut de France, members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: the Hellenist and archaeologist Théophile Homolle (1848-1925) and his colleague archaeologist Edmond Pottier (1855-1934), curator of the Louvre museum.00The definition of the UAI as a 'Republic of Scholars" dates back to 1939 when the Belgian Hellenist Joseph Bidez, one of its founding fathers, celebrated the institution's 20th anniversary, thus making a clear reference to the elegant title "République des Lettres" which in the 18th century designated the cordial network between scholars and humanists belonging to the most diverse nations.00A centenary offers the occasion to reflect on the direction one is going and on the ways chosen to achieve one's goals. The different views on the history of the UAI, its realisations and its visions for the future presented in this volume will contribute to a better understanding of the nature and the importance of this venerable and valuable instituti