Council for Assisting Refugee Academics
Encyclopedia
The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics is a British charitable organization dedicated to assisting academics who, for reasons including persecution and conflict, are unable to continue their research in their countries of origin. Academics are given funding and other support to relocate to the United Kingdom
and rebuild their careers.
The organization, originally named the Academic Assistance Council (A.A.C.), was founded in 1933 to assist Jewish and other academics forced to flee the Nazi regime. It was consolidated to become the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning in 1936, and in 1997 was renamed the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics.
, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, learned that academics deemed ‘undesirable’ by the Nazi government were being dismissed from their positions. Dismayed by this, Beveridge returned to England keen to help scholars displaced from Germany. He conceived the idea for the A.A.C., and persuaded the prominent physicist Ernest Rutherford
to become its first president, and physiologist A.V. Hill its vice-president.
In May of the same year, Beveridge distributed a letter publicizing the creation of the A.A.C. Having been signed by leading academics, amongst them five Nobel laureate scientists, the document was published in major British newspapers. In June, Rutherford identified the charity’s aims in a journal as twofold; the first was to create a fund for the academic assistance of displaced scholars, the second ‘to act as a centre of information’, putting academics in touch with the institutions ‘that can best help them’.
The organisation soon took off. The LSE agreed to provide posts for refugee scholars, and Albert Einstein
’s October speech at the Albert Hall
was quick to generate publicity. After less than eight months of operation, the council had generated more than £10,000 in funds.
Both the need and merit of applications were considered by an Allocation Committee. At first only short term grants of up to a year were awarded, but dismissals became increasingly frequent. As a result, in June 1936 the A.A.C. was consolidated and expanded into the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning. To explain this change, Rutherford wrote that ‘the council hoped that its work might be required for only a temporary period, but is now convinced that there is a need for a permanent body to assist scholars’.
By the beginning of the Second World War, the S.P.S.L. had assisted 900 academics, and both throughout and after the conflict it continued to do so.
. Born in Rangpur
, Bangladesh
, he trained as a lawyer at Balliol College, Oxford
. Beveridge worked in the Civil service before becoming director of the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1919. At first heavily influenced by the Fabian Society
, he later joined the Liberal Party
.
, was the society’s first president. The Nobel Prize winning physicist often engaged with politics; Rutherford was Chairman of the government’s advisory council on scientific research, and campaigned against government censorship of the BBC
and the use of aircraft in warfare. Historian David Zimmerman wrote that Rutherford 'commanded the respect' of both scientists and the British public, thus attracting a great deal of publicity to the charity.
in muscles. He was a champion of academic freedom, denouncing the persecution of Jews, and specifically Jewish academics, under the Nazi regime.
Historian Gary Werskey, author of The Visible College, emphasised the speed and efficiency with which the A.A.C. was established. He wrote, 'within a matter of weeks after the first expulsions of Jewish scholars from Germany, researchers like Hill and Lord Rutherford were able to set up an Academic Assistance Council'.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and rebuild their careers.
The organization, originally named the Academic Assistance Council (A.A.C.), was founded in 1933 to assist Jewish and other academics forced to flee the Nazi regime. It was consolidated to become the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning in 1936, and in 1997 was renamed the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics.
History
Whilst studying in Vienna in 1933, William BeveridgeWilliam Beveridge
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge KCB was a British economist and social reformer. He is best known for his 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services which served as the basis for the post-World War II welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.Lord...
, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, learned that academics deemed ‘undesirable’ by the Nazi government were being dismissed from their positions. Dismayed by this, Beveridge returned to England keen to help scholars displaced from Germany. He conceived the idea for the A.A.C., and persuaded the prominent physicist Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
to become its first president, and physiologist A.V. Hill its vice-president.
In May of the same year, Beveridge distributed a letter publicizing the creation of the A.A.C. Having been signed by leading academics, amongst them five Nobel laureate scientists, the document was published in major British newspapers. In June, Rutherford identified the charity’s aims in a journal as twofold; the first was to create a fund for the academic assistance of displaced scholars, the second ‘to act as a centre of information’, putting academics in touch with the institutions ‘that can best help them’.
The organisation soon took off. The LSE agreed to provide posts for refugee scholars, and Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
’s October speech at the Albert Hall
Albert Hall
Albert P. Hall is an American actor.Born in Brighton, Alabama, Hall graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1971. That same year he appeared Off-Broadway in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and on Broadway in the Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death...
was quick to generate publicity. After less than eight months of operation, the council had generated more than £10,000 in funds.
Both the need and merit of applications were considered by an Allocation Committee. At first only short term grants of up to a year were awarded, but dismissals became increasingly frequent. As a result, in June 1936 the A.A.C. was consolidated and expanded into the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning. To explain this change, Rutherford wrote that ‘the council hoped that its work might be required for only a temporary period, but is now convinced that there is a need for a permanent body to assist scholars’.
By the beginning of the Second World War, the S.P.S.L. had assisted 900 academics, and both throughout and after the conflict it continued to do so.
William Beveridge
William Beveridge (1879-1963) was an economist, social reformer, politician and the A.A.C.'s founder. According to historian David Zimmerman he had a key role in the charity, as 'policy-making was left to the honorary secretaries, Beveridge and C.S. Gibson'. He was also well-known for his key role in developing Britain's Welfare StateWelfare State
The Welfare State is a commitment to health, education, employment and social security in the United Kingdom.-Background:The United Kingdom, as a welfare state, was prefigured in the William Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness...
. Born in Rangpur
Rangpur, Bangladesh
Rangpur is one of the major cities in Bangladesh. Rangpur is considered as the centre of northwestern Bangladesh. Recently established public university of Bangladesh named as "Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur" is situated in the southern part of the city. Earlier Rangpur was the headquarter of...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, he trained as a lawyer at Balliol College, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. Beveridge worked in the Civil service before becoming director of the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1919. At first heavily influenced by the Fabian Society
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
, he later joined the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
.
Ernest Rutherford
Lord Ernest Rutherford, (1871–1937), often referred to as the 'father' of nuclear physicsNuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
, was the society’s first president. The Nobel Prize winning physicist often engaged with politics; Rutherford was Chairman of the government’s advisory council on scientific research, and campaigned against government censorship of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and the use of aircraft in warfare. Historian David Zimmerman wrote that Rutherford 'commanded the respect' of both scientists and the British public, thus attracting a great deal of publicity to the charity.
A.V. Hill
Archibald Vivian Hill (1886–1977), a founder member and vice-president of the S.P.S.L., combined a career as a physiologist with a life of political responsibility. Amongst other posts, Hill was an independent MP for Cambridge University during the Second World War. He won a Nobel Prize for his work on mechanical workMechanical work
In physics, work is a scalar quantity that can be described as the product of a force times the distance through which it acts, and it is called the work of the force. Only the component of a force in the direction of the movement of its point of application does work...
in muscles. He was a champion of academic freedom, denouncing the persecution of Jews, and specifically Jewish academics, under the Nazi regime.
Organisation
The charity's current president is Sir John Ashworth, and its present chair Professor Sir Robert Boyd. C.A.R.A.'s vice-president is Professor Deian Hopkin, its honorary secretary Professor Paul Broda, and its honorary treasurer Mark Wellby. The current executive secretary is Professor John Akker.Historiography
Canadian historian David Zimmerman argues in his paper, 'The Society for the Protection of Science and Learning and the Politicization of British Science in the 1930s', that the SPSL was the first and most important organisation to politicize British scientists, sweeping ‘many from the confines of the academy into the world of political affairs’. He claims its role 'in the history of academic freedom has not been adequately recognized', and seeks to readdress this. He writes that the S.P.S.L. 'became a quasi-government agent' and 'helped rescue a generation of European scholars'.Historian Gary Werskey, author of The Visible College, emphasised the speed and efficiency with which the A.A.C. was established. He wrote, 'within a matter of weeks after the first expulsions of Jewish scholars from Germany, researchers like Hill and Lord Rutherford were able to set up an Academic Assistance Council'.