Joining nations 1947-1990

29

CONSOLIDAT I O ' , 1954-1961

complex questions concerning its status and the attitude of the existing delegation of the Federal Republic had been resolved. Among the Soviet observers at the 1955 Assembly in Zurich was Professor N N Rykalin. Since, as leader of the Soviet delegation, he was to command extraordinary deference within the IIW over nearly 20 years, it is perhaps appropriate to say something of him at the moment when he first appeared on the IIW stage. A member of the Moscow Academy of Sciences and a physicist, he was not directly connected with the Paton Institute in Kiev which was the principal centre of welding technology in the Soviet Union. evertheless, he appeared to dominate the Soviet delegation, perhaps by means similar to those with which, from a position of relative weakness, he was able to influence the leaders of the IIW. A small, stooped, elderly man, he spoke slowly and gently, with an elaborate courtesy which did not conceal a luminous intelligence and a strong will. T hose to whom he revealed his mastery of the art of mockery felt that they had enjoyed his intimate confidence without necessarily realising what subtle forms flattery can take. To a generation reared on the proletarian images of Stalin and Krushchev, Professor Rykalin was a powerful revelation who exercised his considerable influence to enhance the IIW and thus the advantages which his country could derive from it. The 1956 Assembly, which was held in Madrid, was distinguished by three innovations which were to become permanent features of the IIW. One was the introduction of a supplement to the enrolment fee for the Assembly; this supplement was collected by the Organising Committee and remitted to the IIW, thus constituting an additional source of income for the Institute. In 1956 the supplement was fixed at £i sterling per person, a figure which needs to be seen in the context of a slightly earlier decision to fix the per diem subsistence allowance of official representatives of the IIW at £3 . Secondly, the increasing attention which the Executive Council was required to give to problems concerning publications prompted the appointment of a Publications Committee under the chairmanship of the Treasurer. Thirdly, it was decided to elect Dr Biers' successor as President one year in advarice of his taking office and to accord him, as President-Elect, a seat on the Executive Council for that year. The choice of a candidate had given rise to much heart-searching among the members of the Executive Council. Some considered that, after eight years in office as Treasurer, Mr Edstrom had merited the Presidency while others felt that his business competitors would