---
title: "Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs"
chunk: 1/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pugwash_Conferences_on_Science_and_World_Affairs"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:24:07.269000+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It was founded in 1957 by Joseph Rotblat and Bertrand Russell in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, following the release of the Russell–Einstein Manifesto in 1955.
Rotblat and the Pugwash Conference jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for their efforts on nuclear disarmament. International Student/Young Pugwash groups have existed since founder Cyrus Eaton's death in 1979.

== Origin of the Pugwash Conferences ==
The Russell–Einstein Manifesto, released July 9, 1955, called for a conference for scientists to assess the dangers of weapons of mass destruction (then only considered to be nuclear weapons). Cyrus Eaton, an industrialist and philanthropist, offered on July 13 to finance and host the conference in the town of his birth, Pugwash, Nova Scotia. This was not taken up at the time because a meeting was planned for India, at the invitation of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. With the outbreak of the Suez Crisis the Indian conference was postponed. Aristotle Onassis offered to finance a meeting in Monaco instead, but this was rejected. Eaton's former invitation was taken up.
The first conference was held at what became known as Thinkers' Lodge in July 1957 in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Twenty-two scientists attended the first conference:

seven from the United States: David F. Cavers, Paul M. Doty, Hermann J. Muller, Eugene Rabinowitch, Walter Selove, Leó Szilárd, Victor Frederick Weisskopf
three from the Soviet Union: Alexander M. Kuzin (Александр М. Кузин), Dmitri Skobeltsyn, Alexander V. Topchiev (Александр В. Топчиев)
three from Japan: Iwao Ogawa, Shinichiro Tomonaga, Hideki Yukawa
two from the UK: Cecil F. Powell, Joseph Rotblat
two from Canada: Brock Chisholm, John S. Foster
one each from Australia (Mark Oliphant), Austria (Hans Thirring), China (Zhou Peiyuan), France (Antoine M. B. Lacassagne), and Poland (Marian Danysz).
Cyrus Eaton, Eric Burhop, Ruth Adams, Anne Kinder Jones, and Vladimir Pavlichenko also were present. Many others were unable to attend, including co-founder Bertrand Russell, for health reasons. From the Soviet Union, Mikhail Ilyich Bruk (Russian: Михаил Ильич Брук; 1923 Moscow – 2009 Jurmala) attended as an English-Russian technical translator. Later, Armand Hammer stated, "Mike's KGB."

== Organizational structure ==

Pugwash's "main objective is the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological) and of war as a social institution to settle international disputes. To that extent, peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and mutual understanding is an essential part of Pugwash activities, that is particularly relevant when and where nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are deployed or could be used."
"The various Pugwash activities (general conferences, workshops, study groups, consultations and special projects) provide a channel of communication between scientists, scholars, and individuals experienced in government, diplomacy, and the military for in-depth discussion and analysis of the problems and opportunities at the intersection of science and world affairs.  To ensure a free and frank exchange of views, conducive to the emergence of original ideas and an effective communication between different or antagonistic governments, countries and groups, Pugwash meetings as a rule are held in private.  This is the main modus operandi of Pugwash.  In addition to influencing governments by the transmission of the results of these discussions and meetings, Pugwash also may seek to make an impact on the scientific community and on public opinion through the holding of special types of meetings and through its publications."
Officers include the president and secretary-general. Formal governance is provided by the Pugwash Council, which serves for five years. There is also an executive committee that assists the secretary-general. Hussain al-Shahristani is the current president. Karen Hallberg is the current Secretary General.
The four Pugwash offices, in Rome (international secretariat), London, Geneva, and Washington D.C., provide support for Pugwash activities and serve as liaisons to the United Nations and other international organizations.
There are approximately fifty national Pugwash groups, organized as independent entities and often supported or administered by national academies of science.
The International Student/Young Pugwash groups work with, but are independent from, the international Pugwash group.