Birth of a profession : the first sixty-five years of the International Association of Conference Interpreters

Interpreters have always existed; interpreting has even been called the second oldest profession in the world. Conference interpreting however is a more recent development. It is generally considered that it started towards the end of the First World War. For centuries, french (and before it latin) had been the language of international diplomacy. However, during the negotiations of The Treaty of Versailles, british, and more importantly, american statesmen who didn't speak french, demanded that there be two official languages, french and english. ANd interpreters no longer simply provide one-to-one linguistic mediation but became fully-fledged participants who were given the floor to interpret, in the first person, delegates' statements into the other official language. As this activity took place within the framework of a conference, it naturally came to be known as conference interpreting.