History
Eight leading personalities of the IPU have received Nobel Peace Prizes:
- 1901: Frédéric Passy (France)
- 1902: Charles Albert Gobat (Switzerland)
- 1903: Randal Cremer (United Kingdom)
- 1908: Fredrik Bajer (Denmark)
- 1909: Auguste Marie François Beernaert (Belgium)
- 1913: Henri La Fontaine (Belgium)
- 1921: Christian Lange (Norway)
- 1927: Ferdinand Buisson (France)
The organisation's initial objective was the arbitration of conflicts. The IPU played an important part in setting up the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Over time, its mission has evolved towards the promotion of democracy and inter-parliamentary dialogue. The IPU has worked for establishment of institutions at the inter-governmental level, including the United Nations, an organization with which it cooperates and with which it has permanent observer status.
Numerous bodies have expressed interest in the possibility of transforming the IPU into a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, among them the Committee for a Democratic UN, the German Bundestag and the Socialist International. The Liberal International also considers this as an option.
The headquarters of the union have been moved several times since its inception. Locations:
- 1892–1911: Bern (Switzerland)
- 1911–1914: Brussels (Belgium)
- 1914–1920: Oslo (Norway)
- 1921 – permanent in Geneva (Switzerland)
Read more about this topic: Inter-Parliamentary Union
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I believe my ardour for invention springs from his loins. I can’t say that the brassiere will ever take as great a place in history as the steamboat, but I did invent it.”
—Caresse Crosby (1892–1970)
“Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)