Thinkers Lodge

Thinkers Lodge. The House That Made Pugwash Famous. , ”There Can Be No Winners in a Nuclear War.” , Russell , Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955, A Welcome Retreat , In 1955, Cyrus Eaton began hosting meetings of scholars, educators and social reformers in Pugwash., He regarded his birthplace’s relative remoteness as a tremendous asset. The village provided greater opportunity for openly friendly, meaningful discussion of nuclear disarmament than did busier, more cosmopolitan locales., Eaton’s seaside lodge was an ideal, relaxing gathering place for some of the world’s most brilliant scientists to discuss means of freeing civilization from the threat of nuclear annihilation., In 1957, 22 prominent academics from both sides of the Iron Curtain "assembled in conference" at Thinkers Lodge to discuss the escalating arms race between the Soviet Union, the United States and the two nations' respective allies. Foremost, the thinkers came together to discuss the very real prospect of nuclear war and how to prevent it., This groundbreaking series of meetings, spearheaded by a formal call to action in 1955 by Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell and others, marked the launching of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. These meetings are still held annually at locations around the world., The "Pugwash Thinkers" came to the village for several days in 1957 at the invitation of wealthy American industrialist and philanthropist, Cyrus S. Eaton (1883-1979). Born in Pugwash River and raised in Pugwash Junction, Eaton was a profound humanist and social activist who also ranked amongst North America's most successful business leaders. He was as equally concerned about the 20th century economic decline of small communities like Pugwash, as he was about the century's escalating nuclear arms race., Famous For Peace , Always an advocate of friendly relations with the Soviets, Cyrus Eaton's efforts to further world peace were recognized formally for the first time in 1960 when his friend, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, awarded him the Lenin Peace Prize., In 1995, the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affair shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Polish-born nuclear physicist, Joseph Rotblat (1908-2005)., For more than 50 years, Joseph Rotblat was an internationally respected nuclear arms opponent who promoted the social responsibility of academics. In 1998, he was knighted, “for services to international understanding.” One of the core organizers of the Pugwash Conferences, Sir Joseph Rotblat was, at the time of his death, the last surviving signatory to the 1955 Russell-Einstein Manifesto., "We demonstrated [at the 1957 Pugwash Conference] that men of different languages and different philosophies can get together and discuss crucial questions, come to a common understanding, and part great friends." , , Cyrus Eaton, The ABC Mike Wallace Interview, 11/15/57