The Mainau Declaration refers to any one of three socio-political appeals by Nobel laureates who participated in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, the annual gathering with young scientists at the German town of Lindau. The name denotes that these declarations were presented on Mainau Island in Lake Constance, the traditional venue of the last day of the one-week meeting.
Mainau Declaration 1955
The first Mainau Declaration was an appeal against the use of nuclear weapons. Initiated and drafted by German nuclear scientists Otto Hahn and Max Born, it was circulated at the 5th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (11–15 July 1955) and presented on Mainau Island on 15 July 1955. The declaration was initially signed by 18 Nobel laureates. Within a year, the number of supporters rose to 52 Nobel laureates.
Full text
:
Signatories
The initial 18 signatories were: The document was read in full by physics laureate David Gross and then signed in front of the audience of young scientists by all 22 present Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry. The full document has signatures from 30 laureates in physics and chemistry.
Similarly to the Mainau Declaration 2015, the following Nobel laureates (left column) have signed the Mainau Declaration 2024 on the day of its announcement, while other laureates have later agreed to add their names to the list of signatories (right column):
See also
- Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings