History

An overview: Why did CARA begin?

CARA was established in 1933 in response to the persecution of academics across Europe by fascist regimes. It was founded as the 'Academic Assistance Council' by leading figures such as Sir William Beveridge; Lord Rutherford; John Maynard Keynes; A V Hill, Lionel Robbins; and Margery Fry, to help the thousands of Jewish academics dismissed from universities and unable to continue their work. For further information about the founding of the Academic Assistance Council and the early years, please see the list of books and reference papers here. David Zimmerman's paper: 'The Society for the Protection of Science and Learning and the Politicization of British Science in the 1930S', Minerva, vol. 44, no. 1, March 2006', found here, provides an excellent background.

Amongst the 1,500 academics assisted in the early years, sixteen went on to win Nobel Prizes, eighteen received Knighthoods, and well over a hundred were elected Fellows of The Royal Society and The British Academy, and many more became leaders in their respective fields.

'We often talk about the debt we all owe to your organisation.'
Sir Hans Krebs

In 1936, in recognition that the need was still growing and that similar issues were arising in other countries - Spain, Portugal, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Austria and then the USSR - the Academic Assistance Council reconstituted itself as The Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL). The need to protect science and learning did not end with the defeat of totalitarian regimes in Europe and the USSR. In 1956 came the Hungarian uprising, and the streams of refugee academics have continued to flow from countries as diverse as Argentina, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan (West Bank), Poland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, and Vietnam.

In the face of continuing violations of academic freedom worldwide, the SPSL's work supporting persecuted academics and their dependants remains as vital today as ever. For further information about CARA's work today, please click here.