Extract
José L. Zamorano, the new Committee chairman, outlines his plans and ambitions for his 2-year term
The ESC was founded in 1950 by representatives from 14 National Societies (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia). Its first General Assembly was held during the World Congress in Paris, 1950. At that time, the ESC Congress was held every 4 years, organized each time by a different National Society. The ESC Congress was then held every 2 years and is now an annual event.
In 1993 the European Heart House (EHH) was built as the official headquarters of the ESC in Sophia-Antipolis, near Nice, France. This was the first step to the development of many new activities, including the first publication of ESC Guidelines in 1994 in the EHJ. A committee overseeing this type of publication and co-ordinating the activities of Task Forces, Study Groups and Policy Conferences was created in 1994. At that time, it was led by the President Elect and named the Scientific and Clinical Initiatives Committee. The successive Chairs of this committee were: G. Breithardt (Germany) 1994–96, L. Ryden (Sweden) 1996–98, J.P. Bassand (France) 1998–2000, W. Klein (Austria) 2000–02, S. Priori (Italy) 2002–06, A. Vahanian (France) 2006–10, J.J. Bax (The Netherlands) 2010–12, and currently, J. L. Zamorano (Spain) 2012–14.
