Roerich Pact

Covenant authors

The author of the idea and the initiator of this international treaty is the Russian artist Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich . The official draft of the Roerich Pact was prepared by Dr. G.G.Schklyaver with the participation of Professor Albert Joffre de la Pradel in 1928 . ^{[2] [3]}

Background to the Roerich Pact

Nicholas Roerich
author of the idea and initiator of the Covenant

For the first time, the idea of ​​protecting cultural monuments came to N. K. Roerich back in 1899. While conducting excavations in the St. Petersburg province, Roerich began to talk about the need to protect the monuments of archeology, which convey the attitude of ancient people to us.

1903 - N.K. Roerich, together with his wife Elena Ivanovna, travels through 40 ancient Russian cities. Among them: Yaroslavl , Kostroma , Kazan , Nizhny Novgorod , Vladimir , Suzdal , Yuryev-Polskoy , Smolensk , Vilna , Izborsk , Pskov and others. Continuing the expedition in 1904, N.K. Roerich visited Uglich , Kalyazin , Kashin , Tver .

During the trip, Nicholas Roerich creates a large series of architectural studies, numbering about 90 works. Many temples were subsequently destroyed and remained only in the paintings of the artist.

Summing up his travels of 1903, admiring the beauty of ancient monuments, the artist paints in his article "From Antiquity" (1903) about the attitude towards their protection. “Last summer, I happened to see a lot of our true antiquity and little love around her.”

1904 - NK Roerich speaks at the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society with a report on the deplorable state of historical monuments and on the adoption of urgent measures to protect them.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 N. Roerich got the idea that a special agreement was needed to protect educational institutions and cultural monuments.

For a number of years after his travel 1903-1904. N.K. Roerich again and again turns to the state of ancient monuments. The artist writes several articles on the deplorable state of temples. So in the article “Silent Pogroms” ^[4] (1911), it refers to the inept restoration of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Tolchkov ( Yaroslavl ): “Who will protect the beautiful antiquity from the crazy pogroms? It’s sad when antiquity dies. But it’s even worse when the old days remain disfigured, fake, fake ... ”

In 1915, N.K. Roerich made a report to Emperor Nicholas II and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich (Jr.) with an appeal to take serious state measures for the national protection of cultural treasures, to consider the possibility of legislative approval of the Regulation on the Protection of Historical Monuments in Russia.

Roerich Pact Adoption History

In 1928, NK Roerich addressed the whole world, to the state and cultural figures of all countries, urging them to urgently discuss the issue of protecting cultural monuments.

In August 1928, French international lawyers Dr. Georgy Gavrilovich Shklyaver and Professor Albert Joffre de la Pradel developed the legal form of the main document of the Covenant in accordance with international law, with the goal of "promoting the moral well-being of their Nations."

In the years 1929-1930 Five Committees were created to spread the ideas of the Covenant - in France, Belgium, India and two in the USA.

In 1930, the draft Covenant was submitted to the International Committee of Museums in the League of Nations, which, approving the draft Covenant, submitted it to the Commission of International Intellectual Cooperation.

In 1931, the International Union was organized for the adoption of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace. On September 13-16, 1931, the First International Conference of the Roerich Pact was convened in Bruges. December 27, 1931 in New York hosted an international holiday dedicated to the Banner of Peace.

On August 8-9, 1932, the Second International Conference in Bruges was convened.

On November 17-18, 1933, the Third International Convention of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace in Washington was held, in which more than 30 states participated. The Decisions of this Convention, adopted unanimously with the participation of official delegates from 27 countries and with observers from 7 countries, contain a recommendation to the governments of all states to sign the Roerich Pact.

On December 16, 1933, at the Seventh International Conference of the Pan American Union in Montevideo, a resolution was adopted to support the Roerich Pact, addressed to the governments of all American states.

On April 15, 1935, the International Treaty for the Protection of Cultural Property (Roerich Pact) was signed in Washington by representatives of twenty-one American republics.

On September 3, 1948, the Roerich Pact was approved by the Government of the Republic of India ^[1] .

Covenant in the History of International Law for the Protection of Cultural Property

Researchers of international law relating to the protection of cultural property (including during the war) trace its history since the mid-19th century ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]} :

• Items on the protection of cultural property in the 1874 Declarations ( Lieber code and the Brussels Conference ) and the 1880s.
• The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 had specific points for the protection of cultural objects, which obliged to designate such objects with distinctive signs. However, the experience of the First World War showed the inadequacy of these points to prevent the destruction of cultural objects.
• On April 15, 1935, 21 countries of the Pan American Union signed the Roerich Pact, of which 10 countries ratified it. For objects of protection, a sign is proposed - the Banner of Peace .
• In 1939, the governments of Belgium, Spain, the USA, Greece and the Netherlands, under the auspices of the League of Nations, issued a draft Declaration and a draft International Convention for the Protection of Monuments and Works of Art during the War. Like the Roerich Pact, these efforts of the League of Nations quickly came to naught with the outbreak of World War II , in which technology, tactics and strategy of warfare were changed and a new concept of “total war” appeared.
• September 3, 1948 India ratifies the Roerich Pact ^[1] .
• The destruction and looting of World War II prompted the Dutch government in 1948 to again raise the issue of the need for the adoption of the Convention on the Protection of Cultural Objects in UNESCO that appeared. The 1951 UNESCO General Conference decided to convene a committee to draft a convention. The committee met in 1952 and subsequently introduced the draft General Convention.
• In May 1954, the Hague Convention was signed on the basis of the Roerich Pact, designed to eliminate the shortcomings of all previous international treaties. This convention establishes a distinguishing sign for the identification of objects of protection - a shield pointed at the bottom, divided into four parts in blue and white.
• In 1972, UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage , which introduced the designation “World Heritage Site” and for the first time protection concerned not only cultural but also natural heritage.
• Subsequently, the ideas of the Covenant were developed in the "Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity" (2001) and the "Declaration on the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage" (2003) by UNESCO, the UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, UN (2005 )

The uniqueness of the Roerich Pact

The Roerich Pact as an international treaty is the first international document that was fully devoted to the protection of cultural property ^[10] , and which does not contain a reservation on military necessity. Adopted in 1953 under the Covenant, the UN Convention did not accept its basic idea of ​​cultural priority and left the main dominant “military necessity”, which has no precise legal definition ^[11] .

World League of Culture and World Culture Day

In a broader sense, the Roerich Pact means not only a specific legal contract, but also the whole range of measures to protect cultural property proposed by N.K. Roerich. Thus, the Roerich Pact has not only legal, but also philosophical, educational and evolutionary significance, since it reflects the idea of ​​protecting culture in many of its manifestations.

Describing the Roerich Pact, the cosmonaut A. A. Leonov writes:

“If we raise culture and spirituality, then this will help us strengthen the economy, make a moral policy and end military conflicts. This is the modern meaning of the Roerich Pact. The more time passes, the more relevance for the planet it gains ... ".

In development of the ideas of the Pact, N. K. Roerich expressed his thoughts on the role of the public. By themselves, laws to protect culture will not work if the public does not show activity and interest. This idea was subsequently shared by Academician D. S. Likhachev , who claimed:

“... I am convinced that the best freely developing social forms of culture can unite creative creative forces and improve the life of society, thereby helping the state to affirm the high ideals of humanism and peacefulness in people ...”.

At the first international conference of the Roerich Pact in the Belgian city of Bruges (September 1931 ), N. K. Roerich proposed the creation of a World League of Culture. One of the main tasks of the League was to educate the respect for nature.

“The call of culture, the call of peace, the call of creativity and beauty will reach only the ear, strengthened by true values. Understanding of life as self-improvement for the good of the people will develop where the worship of nature is firm. Therefore, the League of Culture among the main educational work should by all means interpret a reasonable attitude to nature as a source of fun work, the joy of wise, constant knowledge and creativity, ”the artist wrote in the article“ The Pain of the Planet ”(1933).

In 1931, in the USA, at the initiative of N. K. Roerich and E. I. Roerich, the international public organization World League of Culture was created. January 12, 1931 dates to the original memorandum of the World League of Culture. On December 23, 1931, a “Registration Certificate” was issued in New York, according to which the full name of this organization is “The World League of Culture and the World Council of Culture”.

The World League of Culture paved the way for the adoption of the Roerich Pact, which in turn was called upon to create a solid legal basis for the effective operation of the World League of Culture in the countries that signed the Pact ^[12] .

The Culture League program proclaimed its objectives as follows:

• the spread of the Roerich idea of ​​“Peace through Culture” in all countries;
• promotion of the Roerichs teachings on Culture in the world;
• protection of cultural treasures of humanity and their cataloging;
• the protection of public organizations, educational, scientific, religious, artistic and other institutions that are members of the League of Culture or cooperate with it;
• informing about the work of the World League of Culture through the media.

Based on the documents of the League, we can distinguish seven theses on the role and place of the World League of Culture (WLC) in the modern world ^[13] :

• In the field of world development. VLK as a coordinating and strategic planning body for the development and movement of the human community along the path of Culture - Ethics - Creativity, which presumes a careful attitude of people to the natural and cultural heritage of the world.
• In the field of global politics. VLK as a balancing principle and organizational basis of a stable world.
• In the socio-economic sphere. The so-called environmental impact assessment of socially significant projects should be replaced by a deeper systematic expertise under the auspices of the VLK Departments, which includes environmental, cultural and other equally important aspects. Here, both scientific and legal study of issues is urgently needed.
• In the field of creativity. Encouragement of VLK scientific, artistic and other socially significant creativity through a coordinated system of specially educated public institutions to support science, education, art and culture in the broad sense.
• In the field of cultural and civil engineering. Revitalization of social forces to address the pressing challenges facing society. The expansion of the space of public initiative on the paths of Culture, which, in particular, will lead to an increase in the employment of the population in socially significant work.
• In the field of ethnocultural relations. Harmonization and mutual enrichment of cultural traditions of various peoples and ethnic groups based on systematic intercultural exchanges.
• In the field of ideology. Increasing the role of moral factors and ethics in the consciousness, life and work of people, in relations between states, cultures, religions, in human communication.

Along with the creation of the World Culture League, Roerich in 1931 expressed the idea of ​​establishing a World Culture Day. In greeting the conference of the Banner of Peace, Roerich wrote:

“... We will hear about World Culture Day, when all schools and educational societies will simultaneously celebrate the day of awareness of national and world cultural treasures ...”

Roerich Pact Ideas Today

The ideas underlying the Roerich Pact today continue to develop actively.

The Honorary Chairman of the Central Council of the All-Russian Public Organization "All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments of History and Culture" (VOOPIiK) G.I. Malanicheva states:

“The first large non-governmental organization VOOPIIK in the field of preservation of cultural heritage did not arise by chance. It was prepared and demanded by the Roerich Pact, which is gaining strength in the international movement that arose at the beginning of the 20th century in defense of cultural values. ”

On February 12, 1996 , in Russia, at the initiative of the International Center of the Roerichs and prominent cultural figures, the International League for the Protection of Culture was created and began its activities. The first honorary president of the League was Academician B.V. Rauschenbach . Academician D. S. Likhachev , who highly appreciated the creative and social activities of N. K. Roerich, actively worked in this public organization. D. S. Likhachev developed the Declaration of the Rights of Culture. The thoughts expressed in the Declaration are very consonant with the ideas of N. K. Roerich.

“I consider this conference and the Roerich Pact on the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, endorsed by President Roosevelt, very important. I think that you can recall this wonderful document and create new ones based on existing provisions on culture. Here is such a document: “Declaration of the Rights of Culture”, because not only a person has rights in this world, but also culture. It should be encouraged by the state, because every country, and every nation, and every state exists only for the sake of culture ... ”, said Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev at the international social science conference“ Let's Protect Culture ” , dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Roerich Pact.

The Culture Defense League took the initiative to celebrate April 15 - the day of the signing of the Roerich Pact as Culture Day. Today in the Republic of Lithuania, Culture Day has been approved as a public holiday.

Since 1995 , Culture Day has been held in many cities of Russia with the support of educational and cultural bodies.

In 2005, Russia and several countries hosted events dedicated to the anniversary of the Roerich Pact. The N. K. Roerich Museum hosted the International Scientific and Public Conference “70th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact”. The conference once again confirmed that the ideas contained in the Roerich Pact are in demand and relevant today ^[14] .

Scientific Conferences

• “Let's Protect Culture” The International Social and Scientific Conference dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Roerich Pact. Russian State Library , October 1995.
• International scientific and public conference “70 years of the Roerich Pact” ( International Center of the Roerichs , October 2005).
• Conference "Culture and Science" (inaccessible link) , dedicated to the 73rd anniversary of the adoption of the Roerich Pact (House of Friendship of the Peoples of the Republic of Tatarstan, April 15, 2008). ^[15]
• International Social and Scientific Conference “75 years of the Roerich Pact” ^[16] ( International Center of the Roerichs , October 2010 ).

Exhibitions

• In 2005, exhibitions dedicated to the Roerich Pact were held at the UN headquarters ^[17] and in the State Duma of the Russian Federation . ^[18]
• On February 17, 2006, the photo exhibition “70 years of the Roerich Pact” opened at the Russian Cultural Center at the Embassy of Russia in the USA. ^[nineteen]
• On November 11, 2009, as part of the celebration of the 135th anniversary of the birth of N. Roerich, in one of the largest universities in the Indian capital , Jamia Millia Islamia, the photo exhibition “The Banner of Peace - the Roerich Pact” organized by the Rossotrudnichestvo Representation in India together with the Academy of Third Countries peace ("Jamia Millia Islamia"). ^[20]
• On October 8, 2010, the opening ceremony of three exhibitions took place at the N. K. Roerich Museum : “75 years of the Roerich Pact” ^[21] , “Lopukhins Manor. Past. The present. The Future ” ^[22] ,“ Dying Collection ” ^[23] . They are timed to coincide with the International Social and Scientific Conference “75 years of the Roerich Pact”. They are united by the relevance of N.K. Roerich's ideas and the problems of preserving cultural heritage today.
• On October 22, 2010, the exhibition “75 years of the Roerich Pact” was opened at the Russian National Library (St. Petersburg) ^[24] .
• From February 18 to April 3, 2011 at the Khazine National Art Gallery (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan) there was an exhibition "Beauty News" by Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich and his son Svyatoslav Roerich dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Roerich Pact.
• On June 20, 2011 at the headquarters of the Austrian Training Center for Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution, an exhibition of photographs opened by the International Center of the Roerichs opened. ^[25]
• Since 2012, the International Center of the Roerichs, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, state and public organizations, has been implementing a major international exhibition project “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity ” ^[26] . The project started at UNESCO headquarters in Paris ^{[27] [28]} and has already passed in 12 countries ( France , Argentina , Switzerland , Germany , Chile , etc.). Since 2014, exhibitions have been held in more than 70 cities of Russia. April 15, 2015 the exhibition “Roerich Pact. History and Contemporaneity ”opened and was successfully held at the UN headquarters in New York ^[29] , as well as in the city museum of Bonn (Germany).

• Roerich, Nikolai Konstantinovich
• Banner of Peace
• Earth Day
• Jacob Burkhardt
• 1954 Hague Convention
• Agni Yoga

Russian translations

• Roerich Pact // Stars of the Mountains [almanac]. - Lviv - Minsk - Moscow - Riga: Unity of Peoples under the Banner of Peace “Stars of the Mountains”, 2004. - No. 5 . - S. 104-106 .
• The Roerich Pact of 1935 // Banner of Peace / trans. N. L. Nekrasova. - 1st ed .. - M .: International Center of the Roerichs, 1995. - S. 315-318. ; In the 2nd edition of 2005, the translation by M. A. Rystova.
• Roerich Pact: 70 years / trans. M. A. Rystova, with the participation of V. L. Melnikov. - 2nd ed .. - St. Petersburg. : Roerich Center of St. Petersburg State University, 2005. - P. 513. - ISBN 5-288-03881-3 .

N.K. Roerich on the Covenant

• Roerich N. Banner of Peace: Letters supporting the "Banner of Peace". - New York: Roerich Museum Press, 1931.
• Roerich N. Realm of Light. - New York: Roerich Museum Press, 1931.
• Roerich N.K. Power of the World: Collection of articles. - Southbury: Alatas, 1931.
• Roerich N. Fiery Stronghold. - Boston (Mass.): Stratford Co., 1933.
• Roerich N.K. Banner of Peace: Collection of articles. - Harbin, 1934.
• Roerich N. The New Banner of Peace // Rosicrucian Digest. - 1933. - Nov. - P. 369-372.
• Roerich N. Banner of Peace // Roerich Essays: One hundred essays: In two vol. - India, 1937.
• Roerich N. Pax per Cultura: (Address to Members of ARCA) // Americ. Russ. Cultural Assoc. - 1946. - P. 20 - 22.
• Roerich N. Himavat: Diary Leaves. - Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1946.
• Roerich N. Red Cross of Culture // India. - 1948. - 24 Oct. - P. 6.
• Roerich N. Banner // The Invincible. - New York: Nicholas Roerich Museum, 1974 .-- P. 158-161.

Soviet Studies

• Chklaver g. Le Pacte Roerich // Gand Artistique. Paris, 1931. No. 10-11. P. 180-185.
• Peace Banner Conference. // Journal "Ossetia", April-May-June, 1933
• Third International Convention for the Promotion of the World Wide Adoption of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace. Sponsored by the Roerich Museum, New York. [November 1933 Booklet .]
• Shibayev, VA The Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace. 1935. Reprinted from "The New Dawn." N 8.
• Shibayev, VA Supplement (Roerich Pact signet by United States and all Latin American Governments). (Lahore). 1935
• Shibayev, VA The Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace. Aims and history. (Lion Press, Lahore). 1935
• Shibaev V.A. (inaccessible link) Roerich Pact on the preservation of the cultural values ​​of mankind: A brief historical outline // N.K. Roerich: Collection. - Riga, 1935 .-- S. 57 - 74.
• Rudzitis R.Ya. Nicholas Roerich - the driver of Culture. Riga, 1936.
• Roerich Yu. N. N. K. Roerich in the struggle for peace. M., 1959 // World through culture. - M., 1990.
• Boguslavsky M. M. Roerich Pact and the protection of cultural property in international law // Soviet State and Law. - 1974. - No. 10. - S. 111-115.
• Boguslavsky M. M. Roerich Pact: Development of international law on the protection of cultural monuments // Science and Life. - 1975 .-- S. 88 - 91.
• Tikhonov N. Roerich Pact // Young Communist. - 1974. - No. 11. - S. 79 - 83.
• Alexandrov E. The Roerich Pact and the international protection of historical and cultural monuments. - Sofia, 1978.
• Aleksandrov E. International legal protection of cultural property and objects. - Sofia, 1978.
• Roerich Yu. N. Roerich Pact. "Light the hearts!" - M., 1978, p. 167-169.
• Boguslavsky M. M. International Protection of Cultural Property. - M., 1979.
• Galenskaya L. N. Muses and law. Legal issues of international cooperation in the field of culture. - L., 1987.

Post-Soviet Studies

Collections

• UNESCO Convention and Recommendations on the Protection of Cultural Heritage: Collection of Articles / Comp. V. B. Morgachev. - M., 1990.
• World through Culture: Collection of articles / Comp. E.V. Balashov. - M.: Soviet writer, 1990.
• Defend the culture. Materials of the international public scientific conference dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Roerich Pact. 1995 . - M.: International Center of the Roerichs, 1996. - 208 p.
• Stars of the Mountains [almanac]. - Lviv - Minsk - Moscow - Riga: Unity of Peoples under the Banner of Peace “Stars of the Mountains”, 2004.
• Banner of Peace . - 1st ed .. - M .: International Center of the Roerichs, 1995 .; 2nd ed., 2005
• Roerich Pact: 70 years: Materials of the international scientific-public conference . - 2nd ed .. - St. Petersburg. : Roerich Center of St. Petersburg State University, Master Bank, 2005. - ISBN 5-288-03881-3 .
  • 70 years of the Roerich Pact: Materials of the international scientific and public conference , 2005. - M .: ICR; Master Bank, 2006 .-- 424 p.

Articles, monographs

• Boguslavsky M. M. Cultural values ​​in international circulation: legal aspects. - M .: Yurist, 2005 .-- S. 205—231.
• Баренбойм П. Д., Захаров А. В. «Пакт Рериха как этап внедрения в жизнь эстетической концепции правового государства Николая Рериха», Журнал зарубежного законодательства и сравнительного правоведения, № 2, 2010 г.
• Баренбойм П., Захаров А. Пакт Рериха в XXI веке: К 75-летию подписания Пакта Рериха . М., Летний сад, 2010. ISBN 978-5-98856-113-2 , (HTML, PDF).
• Barenboim P., Sidiqi N. Bruges, the Bridge between Civilizations: The 75th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact . М., Letny Sad, 2010. ISBN 978-5-98856-114-9 , (PDF).
• Дьяченко И. Ю. Деятельность Н. К. Рериха по сохранению культурного наследия: принципы, методы, формы: дис. … канд. культурологии / Академия переподготовки работников искусства, культуры и туризма. — М., 2012. — 209 с.
• Капустин А., Баренбойм П., Захаров А., Кравченко Д. Пакт Рериха как основа новой Конвенции ООН о защите культурных ценностей. — М.: ЛУМ, 2014. — 192 с. — ISBN 978-5-906072-04-7 .
• Куцарова Марга (Болгария) Пакт Рериха — основа международной правовой системы защиты ценностей культуры и её будущее //70 лет Пакту Рериха. Материалы Международной научно-общественной конференции. 2005 г.
• Моргачев В. Знак отличия. Газета «Культура», № 14 (7473) 14 — 20 апреля 2005 г).
• Спиридонова Ю. В. Диссертация « Пакт Рериха в истории сохранения культурного наследия» — 24.00.01 — Санкт-Петербург, 2013 г.
• Шапошникова Л. В. В основе — красота и знание. Газета «Культура», № 14, 14-20 апреля 2005 г.
• Шапошникова Л. В. Актуальность Пакта Рериха в современном мире. // Журнал «Культура и время». — 2005. — № 4 (18).

• «Время собирать камни…». Фильм Международного Центра Рерихов. Режиссёр Валерий Шатин. 2007 г. ( Смотреть фильм )
• «Пакт Рериха в XXI веке» — Баренбойм П. Д. рассказывает об истории Пакта и его необходимом применении в XXI веке. ( смотреть видео )

• Barenboim P., Sidiqi N., Bruges, the Bridge between Civilizations: The 75th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact . M., Letny Sad, 2010 (PDF).
• In 2010, a new postal envelope “75 years of the Roerich Pact” was issued . The envelope depicts a painting by N. K. Roerich “The Banner of Peace”, written in 1931 .
• The Roerich Pact on the Portal Culture
• On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Peace Pact. The journal “Pedagogy of Culture”
• Section "Roerich Pact" on the website of the International Center-Museum named after N. K. Roerich.
• Archival documents on the Roerich Pact on the website of the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York.
• The Roerich Pact is a Russian-American project .