Salomon Henschen's Short-Lived Project of an “Academia Neurologica Internationalis” (1929) For the Revival of the International Brain Commission: Documents from the Cécile and Oskar Vogt Archives1

Abstract

In 1929, at the age of 82, the Swedish neurologist Salomon Henschen (1847–1930) planned an Academia Neurologica Internationalis. The exchanged letters with Cécile and Oskar Vogt suggest that there was a great number of neuroscientists internationally who approved of the project. However, during three months of preparation, the initial skepticism increased and, although the invitation to the conference had already been printed, it had to be revoked. The endeavors to revive the Brain Commission failed. Two other projects nonetheless did take shape: the founding of one of the largest and most modern brain research institutes in 1931 by the Vogts and the first International Neurological Congress in Berne that same year. For decades, the Brain Commission remained without successors until the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) was founded in 1961.