John Goormaghtigh
29 November 1989 From the Collegium Lucis to the International Baccalaureate [80 kb, PDF] AbstractThis lecture provides a history of international education; concentrating on Comenius in the seventeenth century, the influence he has had on educationists through the centuries and how his views are similar to those of the International Baccalaureate. It discusses education in terms of the second-world-war era, the creation of UNESCO, politics, conservatism, and the concept of “the Establishment”, and how these have challenged the development of international education. Despite these challenges, John Goormaghtigh reaffirms faith in international education by looking to the international schools and what they are trying to achieve. He also looks at the progress made in educational and governmental areas towards the IB's future goals of recognition and funding. “In this new world system international education will become more indispensable than ever, but also more possible.” |
Professionally he practised international law in Belgium and was then appointed director of the European Centre of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) from the time it opened in Paris in 1950. He then moved with the organization to Geneva in 1954, until it closed in 1978. (The CEIP is a private non-profit organization founded in 1910 and is dedicated to advancing cooperation among nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States). Goormaghtigh was then secretary general of the European Science Foundation from 1979 until 1986. As a result of active service and imprisonment in the concentration camp of Dachau during the second world war, Goormaghtigh believed that a truly international programme and examination could help create a more tolerant and peaceful world and lead to intercultural understanding. He therefore devoted himself to the IB project and saw it through to fruition. |
John Goormaghtigh was president of the International Schools Examination Syndicate (ISES) from 1965 to 1967, which then became the IB Office in 1968 (and later the International Baccalaureate). He was the founding and longest serving president of the IB's Council of Foundation, remaining in that role until 1980. In 1986 he was elected an honorary member of that council. Other voluntary education posts which Goormaghtigh held included:Goormaghtigh remained very loyal to the IB, regularly attended its Council of Foundation meetings and gave the inaugural Peterson Lecture in 1989 at the council meeting in Geneva. He died in 1998 at his family home near Strasbourg at 79 years of age.
