Abstract
We wish to highlight the political impact of neuroscientific societies as forums of cross-border communication from a historical point of view. We trace the efforts of Constantin von Monakow, a founder of Swiss Neurology, and Cornelis Winkler, one of the primary figures in the early years of Dutch neurology and psychiatry, to shape their medical fields in their countries of residence. The foundation of the International Brain Commission and the failing of its continuation after World War I is reflected by the struggle to constitute the Swiss Neurological Society and the Netherlands Society of Neurology and Psychiatry and to develop their specialties along with new scientific findings in brain research. How both neuroscientists, from politically neutral countries, set different focuses concerning future developments of their societies, as well as their specialties, raises important questions about the role of neurosciences in society and were discussed by neuroscientists between the wars: Von Monakow tried to emphasize the moral meaning of knowledge about the human brain, whereas Winkler was convinced that neurology should focus on scientific issues in the traditional way, without bringing moral or societal implications to the fore. The journal Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, founded by Constantin von Monakow in 1917, represents a successful attempt to establish an organ of scientific communication against the background of challenging political circumstances.
Highlights
In 1917, the Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry (SANP) was established, to provide a forum for ‘ . . . discussions . . . on the highest level of international scientific knowledge’ and that ‘ . . . at the same time should be an international organ’.[1]
Constantin von Monakow’s appeal to unite Swiss Neurology and Psychiatry in a journal that was open for scientists from other countries, printed as preface for the first volume of the SANP in 1917, was an enormous political statement
He insisted that what we call the neurosciences had to be independent from national interests – an opinion that had led to his engagement with the International Brain Commission (IBC)
Summary
In 1917, the Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry (SANP) was established, to provide a forum for ‘ . . . discussions . . . on the highest level of international scientific knowledge’ and that ‘ . . . at the same time should be an international organ’ (translated from French by the authors; French is subsequently abbreviated as ‘F’).[1]. Keywords Constantin von Monakow, Cornelis Winkler, International Brain Commission, diaschisis, politics of neurosciences, history of neurosciences, Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, International Brain Research Organization
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