Back Kongress für kulturelle Freiheit German Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura Spanish Congress for Cultural Freedom Finnish Congrès pour la liberté de la culture French Associazione per la libertà della cultura Italian 文化自由会議 Japanese Kongres Wolności Kultury (organizacja) Polish Congress for Cultural Freedom Swedish
| Founded | 26 June 1950 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 1979 (as International Association for Cultural Freedom) |
| Location |
|
| Origins | Central Intelligence Agency |
Area served | Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Latin America, Australia |
| Method | conferences, journals, seminars |
Key people | Melvin J. Lasky, Nikolai Nabokov, Michael Josselson |
| Endowment | CIA to 1966; Ford Foundation to 1979 |
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the group.[1][2] The congress aimed to enlist intellectuals and opinion makers in a war of ideas against communism.
Historian Frances Stonor Saunders writes (1999): "Whether they liked it or not, whether they knew it or not, there were few writers, poets, artists, historians, scientists, or critics in postwar Europe whose names were not in some way linked to this covert enterprise."[3] Peter Coleman argues that the CCF was a participant in a struggle for the mind "of Postwar Europe" and the world at large.[4]
- ^ Frances Stonor Saunders, "Modern Art was CIA 'weapon'", The Independent, October 22, 1995.
- ^ Scionti, Andrea (2020-02-01). ""I Am Afraid Americans Cannot Understand": The Congress for Cultural Freedom in France and Italy, 1950–1957". Journal of Cold War Studies. 22 (1): 89–124. doi:10.1162/jcws_a_00927. ISSN 1520-3972. S2CID 211147094.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
sanderswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Peter Coleman, The Liberal Conspiracy: The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Struggle for Mind of Postwar Europe, The Free Press: New York, 1989.