Malcolm Adiseshiah
From 1 to 16 November 1945 a United Nations Conference was convened in London for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF). In the conference, a new organization was created to establish the “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” and thus prevent the outbreak of another world war. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded by thirty-seven countries. Its Constitution to promote collaboration between member states in the fields of education, science and culture was signed on 16 November 1945 and came into force on 4 November 1946. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, was a former student of Adiseshiah’s father. He made a referral to Sir Julian Huxley, then Director-General of UNESCO, who invited Adiseshiah to the organization in 1948. He was posted as Deputy Director of the department of exchange of persons. In that capacity Adiseshiah signed the UNESCO Fellowship letter in 1949 to M. S. Swaminathan, eminent scientist and administrator, to pursue research at the Agricultural University in Wageningen, the Netherlands which was the starting point of his illustrious career.
Cultural heritage protection in Switzerland
The history of the protection of cultural property in its current form began with the massive destruction of cultural property during the Second World War. When the UN was founded in 1945, the UNESCO was established as one of the 17 special agencies of the United Nations dealing with questions relating to education, science and culture. Even today, it continues to be the 'mother organisation' for international protection of cultural property. Thus, UNESCO also took the lead when in 1954 the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (HAC) was consolidated by international law. Switzerland joined the HAC 1962 and ratified the 'Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 1954' (Second Protocol) in 2004, which augments the HAC since 1999.