The official working languages of the Commission were English and French and therefore, most of the documents, including meeting records, exist in both languages. There are, however, fewer documents in French than in English.
Documents in English have been reproduced on microfiche: in all 70 fiches.
In addition, the working documents containing the proposals for the programme and budget of the new organization submitted to the first General Conference exist on microfiche.
The Conference of the Establishment of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation adopted on 16 November 1945 not only the UNESCO Constitution but also an Instrument establishing a Preparatory Educational, Scientific and Cultural Commission. During the year 1946, the commission held six sessions.
In the first plenary meeting of the Commission Ellen Wilkinson, Minister of Education of Great Britain, was elected as the President of the Commission and the post of the Executive Secretary was held from 1 March 1946 by Julian Huxley until he was elected first Director-General of UNESCO on 6 December 1946.
On 4 November, Greece became the twentieth country to ratify the Constitution of UNESCO and by this act the organisation come legally into being. The first session of the General Conference opened on 20 November in Paris and worked until 10 December. Upon the election of the Director General on 6 December, the mandate of the Preparatory Commission expired and the Commission was dissolved, but its staff continued to work as the Secretariat of UNESCO under its chief administrative officer, the Director General.
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Fonds consists of official documents and correspondence files produced by the Preparatory Commission in the course of its activities. The fonds is arranged into two series: Documents and Correspondence files.
No further accruals expected.
The records as transferred to the UNESCO Archives were checked, listed and bound under the supervision of Mr. Jan Opocensky, a former Delegate of the Commission, then Member of the Executive Board from 1946-1948, and the Archivist of UNESCO from 1949-1957.
All original documents are kept in the UNESCO archives.
The copies of the documents should also be available in the Archives of the Member Governments of those years.
- AG 3/1: [Prep.Com. Inventory of archives](http://www.unesco.org/archives/files/ag03fa00001e.pdf): The inventory contains detailed lists of documents and files.
- AG 3/2: Name and subject index of the correspondence files: card-index which refers firstly to the correspondence of the Commission (governments, institutions, organizations and individual persons) and secondly to subject matters dealt with in the correspondence; references are to individual letters.
- AG 3/4: Mail register: chronological register-book of letters received between 21 March and 17 December 1946; letters after that date should, in principle, be filed in the Unesco Secretariat files (registry files); file numbers of individual letters indicated.
- AG 3/4: Card-index of documents.
Huxley, Julian: Unesco, its purpose and its philosophy. London, Preparatory Commission of Unesco, 1946.
Opocensky, Jan: The Beginnings of Unesco I-II 1942-1948. Paris 1949-1950. Non published manuscript in the UNESCO Archives; Vol. I: Survey of the first years; Vol. II treats the constitution.
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Series consists of official Preparatory Commission documents issued under codes corresponding to the creating committee or sub-committee.
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Subseries consists of 71 documents (excluding any revisions and addenda) which were issued under the general code Prep.Com. The subseries is arranged in numeric order based on the codes.
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Subseries consists of official documents issued by or relating to the Executive Committee of the Preparatory Commission. The documents were issued with the code Prep.Com./Exec.Com./ and a sequential number. The subseries is arranged in this numeric order.
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Subseries consists of documents from a meeting held 18 January 1946 between the Preparatory Commission Executive Committee and the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME). The transfer of certain activities of CAME to UNESCO was discussed at the meeting. The documents have the code Prep.Com./Exec.Com;/SR of Joint Meeting.
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Subseries consists of verbatim and summary records of the Plenary Meetings of the Preparatory Commission from the first to sixth session. The documents have codes (Prep.Com./SR, Prep.Com./VR, or similar but with the session number included) and are arranged by this code and in chronological order.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Committee on Education and the records of the Committee's meetings. The documents have the code Prep.Com./Educ.Com. and are arranged by code, with the documents before the meeting records. There are also documents with no codes.
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Subseries consists of the documents of the Editorial Committee responsible for editing the material gathered from world authorities in fundamental education in advance of the First Session of the General Conference of UNESCO. The resulting publication explained UNESCO's suggested programme of action in the field of fundamental education. The Committee's documents have no document code but are arranged roughly in reverse chronological order.
The first and final chapters of the final publication resulting from the work of the Editorial Committee were issued in a pamphlet for the First Session of UNESCO's General Conference in 1946. The full publication was later issued under the General Conference document code 1 C/8. It is bound in a volume of Publications for the General Conference, first session. A separate copy exists in the publications of the Education Sector under code ED/1. See the UNESDOC catalogue entry for [Fundamental education: common ground for all peoples; report of a special committee to the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Paris, 1946. ](http://www.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=187221&set=4DA807A5_3_291&gp=1&lin=1&ll=1)
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Subseries consists of the documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Media of Mass Communication Committee, as well as records from the Committee's meetings. The documents have codes Prep.Com./Mass Media Com./ and are arranged by code number with the documents before the meeting records.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Committee on Libraries, Museums, Publications and Special Projects. It also includes the records of the Committee's meetings. The documents and meeting records have the document code Prep.Com./ L. M. & Sp. Proj. Com./. The subseries is arranged in order of the code with the documents before the meeting records.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Natural Sciences Committee, as well as the records of the Committee's meetings. The documents and meeting records have the document code Prep.Com./ Nat. Sci. Com./. The subseries is arranged by code number with the documents before the meeting records.
Documents Prep.Com./Nat. Sci. Com./12-20 were issued as documents of the First Session of the General Conference. Prep.Com./Nat.Sci.Com.12 is bound with Publications from the General Conference, First Session. Prep.Com./Nat.Sci.Com./13-20 are found in the documents of the Programme Commission II, Natural Sciences Sub-Commission.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Social Sciences Committee, as well as the records of the Committee's meetings. The documents and meeting records have the document code Prep.Com./ Soc.Sci.Com./. The subseries is arranged in order of the code with the documents before the meeting records. There are also some records without document codes.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Committee on Letters and Philosophy, as well as a record of the Committee's meetings. The documents have the document code Prep.Com./Com. on Letters & Philosophy/ and the record of the meetings has the code Prep.Com./Letters Com./. The subseries is arranged in order of the code with the documents before the meetings.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Fine Arts Committee. The documents and meeting records have the document code Prep.Com./ Fine Arts Com./. The subseries is arranged in order of the code.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Technical Sub-Committee on the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Needs of Devastated Areas. It also includes the records of the Sub-Committee's meetings. The documents and meeting records have the document code Prep.Com./Tech.Sub-Com./. The subseries is arranged in order of the code with the documents before the meeting records.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's UNRRA and Unesco Sub-Committee, as well as the summary record of the Sub-Committee meeting held 25 March 1946. The documents and meeting record have the code Prep.Com./Tech.Sub-Com./UNRRA Sub-Com./. The subseries is arranged by document code with the meeting record following the documents.
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Subseries consists of an agenda and meeting record for the Preparatory Commission's Consultative Committee of Representatives of International Organizations. The Committee met held 30 April 1946. The documents have the code Prep.Com./Consult.Com./.
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Subseries consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Consultative Committee of Representatives of International Organizations - Relief Appeal Sub-Committee. It also includes a record of the Sub-Committee's meeting held 7 May 1946. The documents have code UNRRA/UNESCO Joint Committee/Consult.Com./Relief Appeal Sub-Com./. They are arranged by order of the code with the documents before the meeting record.
Documents Prep.Com./Joint Com. UNRRA/1 and Prep.Com./Joint Com. UNRRA/2 are listed as missing in the original inventory.
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Sub-series consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Finance Sub-Committee, as well as the records of its meetings. The documents and meeting records have the code Prep.Com./Finance Sub-Com./ or Prep.Com./Finance Sub-Cttee./. The subseries is arranged in order of the document code with the meeting records following the documents.
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Sub-series consists of documents issued by the Preparatory Commission's Budget Committee. The documents have the code Prep.Com./Budget Com./. Some documents do not have a code. The subseries is arranged in order of the document code.
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Subseries consists of Circular letters issued by the Preparatory Commission. The letters have the document code CL/. The subseries is arranged in order of the document code.
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Subseries consists of Staff circulars issued by the Preparatory Commission. The circulars were directed at staff to keep them informed of general administrative matters, such as, for example, the working hours or the transfer of the staff to Paris.
Staff circulars 1-3 are listed as missing in the original inventory.
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Subseries consists of press releases issued by the Preparatory Commission. They have the code Press/ or Prep.Com./Pub.Inf./Press. There are also documents with no code. The subseries is arranged in order of the document code.
Some of the documents are marked as missing in the original inventory.
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Subseries consists of bulletins issued by the Preparatory Commission to inform a general public of news on the Organization's activities. The bulletins are arranged in chronological order based on their issue number.
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Subseries consists of one document with a transcribed speech from a Preparatory Commission press conference held 18 October 1946. The speech was made by M. Montagnier, Head Counsellor in charge of the First Session of the General Conference and the Month of UNESCO. The speech is about the Month of UNESCO - the intellectual and artistic exhibitions thqt were to take place at the same time as the General Conference.
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