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Closing Banąuet at the Pałace Hotel, Lausanne, 26th August 1953 Banąuet de clóture a 1’Hótel Pałace, Lausanne, 26 aout 1953

Monsieur Genet, syndic de la ville de Lausanne, souhaite la bienvenue aux membres du Congres.

Closing speech by Professor Dr. K.Terzaghi, President of the International Society

Ladies and Gentlemen,

AJmost exactly twenty years have elapsed sińce Arthur Casa-grande joined me in a mountain village in the Tyrolian Alps and suggested the convocation of an International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering to be held in Cambridge, Mass., under the auspices of Harvard University at the occasion of its Tercentenary. This was the real birthday of our organization, bccause my objections were swept away by Casagrande’s firm belief in the necessity for initiating inter-national co-operation in our field. Since that day three emi-nently successful and constructive international conferences have been held and soil mechanics developed like a cult center-ing about a rapidly increasing number of soil mechanics Iaboratories.

Whenever a cult grows, ordinary human beings turn into saints and martyrs. The first among the martyrs was Arthur Casagrandc, bccause he sacrificed himself by assuming the duties of a Secretary of the First International Conference. He has not yet completely recovered bccause ever sińce the conference he looks very serious most of the time. He deserves a shrine for himself, with five candles at his feet.

The First Conference was followed by what the historians cali the Dark Ages, because for a period of morę than ten years nothing worth recording occurred. Then came 1948. The Netherlands have risen like a phoenix out of the ashes, and out of the phoenix rosę the Dutch Organizing Committee for the Second Conference, centering about our friend Huizinga. He must have an amazing constitution, because today, not morę than five years after his ordeal, his face has again the cxpression of an angel in a State of perpetual bliss.

At the Conference in Rotterdam the International Society on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering was born. The secretary of the Society, Don W. Taylor, was called upon to perform the miracle of converting financial pledges into cash. The burden of this assignment almost crushed him. When he tried to join us at this Conference he became so seriously ill that he had to return from England to Cambridge. Yet after he was cured his secretarial self got again the upper hand and he came to Europę once morę to submit his financial report. He obviously deserves the status of a martyr.

During Don Taylor's term in office our Swiss colleagues offered to organizc the Third International Conference in Zu-rich. In Holland where the Second Conference was held, one has to look up to see the water and fish can be scen commuting high above the level of the adjacent dry ground. In Switzer-land entirely different conditions prevail. Therefore the Swiss offer was gratefully accepted by everybody concerned.

As all of you know, Switzerland is a bilingual country, the dominating languages being German and French. According to all rules and regulations the organizing committee of such a country should have two presidents. Fortunately, the Swiss National Society has among its distinguished members a gentleman with what the psychologists cali a split pcrsonality. One half is called Meyer, the other half is Peter and the two combined form E. Meyer-Peter. This fact solved the problem. However, to be just one, yet functioning as two is an extremely strenuous occupation. Hence, Meyer-Peter felt compelled to leave the party prematurely and his two hemispheres are now represented by two vice-presidents, Messrs. Schurter and Stucky.

Fig. 6 Mr. Genet, Syndic of the Town of Lausanne, wclcoming the Conference Members. Pałace Hotel, Lausanne M. Genet, syndic de la ville dc Lausanne, souhaite la bienvenue aux membres du Congres, Hólel Pałace Lausanne

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