The Foundation’s inaugural program, co-hosted by President Mitterrand of France, was an unprecedented meeting of seventy-five Nobel Laureates from five continents. Laureates in Peace, Chemistry, Physics, Literature, Economics, Physiology and Medicine discussed the theme, Facing the 21st Century: Threats and Promises. Diverse and often complementary perspectives were brought to a variety of shared concerns, from disarmament and human rights to the social implications of technological advances.

On the day before the conference began, which was the forty-third anniversary of the evacuation of Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel traveled to Poland to visit the site of the death camp, accompanied by a group of Laureates and friends.