Sub-Fonds IPM/IPB - International Peace Bureau

Identity area

Reference code

IPM/IPB

Title

International Peace Bureau

Date(s)

  • 1891-1951 (Creation)

Level of description

Sub-Fonds

Extent and medium

Context area

Name of creator

Administrative history

The International Peace Bureau (IPB) was officialy founded in 1891 at the International Peace Congress in Rome as a result of the report of the Commission appointed the previous year by the London Congress. Its Statutes were approved and its first Council elected in August 1892. Frederik Bajer of Denmark became its first President. The seat of the Bureau was initially located in Bern ; as a consequence of the foundation of the League of Nations it was moved to Geneva in 1924. After World War II the IPB split and was eventually disbanded in 1959. Meanwhile, a group of reformers founded the International Liaison Committee of Organizations for Peace (ILCOP) in 1949, which later took up again the name of the IPB. The Office was reopened in 1964.

The IPB served as the Permanent Secretariat to the Universal Congresses. Besides acting as liaison between various peace organizations, the Bureau assembled a valuable specialized library and published a considerable number of pamphlets, periodicals and books.

Archival history

From 1891 to 1906, Elie Ducommun was Honorary Secretary-General of the Bureau, followed by Albert Gobat, who held this position until his death in 1914. Henry Golay was head of the office from 1914 to 1950. Under their administration the Registry and the collection of documents was set up. The state of order of the IPB Archives can be divided into to parts : the papers covering the pre-war period till 1914 and the second part containing all the assembled records covering the period 1914-1951.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

The International Union of Peace Societies, of which IPB was the Secretariat, was dissolved by a decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal on 18 June 1959. In 1961, the Swiss Government permanently deposited the IPB library and archives at the Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Public

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • German

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Physical characteristics and technical requirements

    Finding aids

    Allied materials area

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Related descriptions

    Notes area

    Note

    Protection period to: 1951-12-31

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Scope ID

    311

    Access points

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Genre access points

    Description control area

    Description identifier

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Status

    Completed

    Level of detail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Archivist's note

        Responsible employee: Blukacz-Louisfert Blandine (UNOG Library)

        Archivist's note

        Protection period duration: 0

        Archivist's note

        Protection period note:

        Archivist's note

        Permission: No permission necessary.

        Archivist's note

        Physical usability: Without limits

        Archivist's note

        Term of protection: Accessible (0)

        Accession area