Paper short abstract:

Based on a unique research material from UNESCO’s earliest days, this paper will argue that the work of the officially neutral Secretariat can be deneutralized and situated with other sources than the official ones we normally use in studies of the history of institutions.

Paper long abstract:

Cultural diplomacy depends on situated persons just as much as institutional structures, but in the official archives of bureaucratic institutions the personal has been neutralized and erased. Based on a unique research material from UNESCO's earliest days, this paper will argue that the important work of the officially neutral and invisible servants of the Secretariat can be deneutralized and situated with other sources than the official ones we normally use in studies of the history of institutions. Olov R. T. Janse (1892-1985), a Swedish born archaeologist who had worked in Europe, French Indochina and for US intelligence services, worked six months as an executive member of staff at the UNESCO Secretariat, from November 1946 to May 1947. The 81 letters he sent home to his wife Ronny in Washington, D.C. abound with details and information about his work and life, in and around the UNESCO Secretariat. They outline connections with pre-Second World War cosmopolitan networks and colonial structures, against a background of harsh human reality in post-war Paris. Containing information that has been actively erased in the official archives of a strictly bureaucratic organization like UNESCO, they offer an outstanding opportunity to situate UNESCO's foundation at the point of intersection between pre-war nostalgia and post-war dreams of a peaceful future.