Previous Presidents
Mr. A. W. Richardson
From 1968 to 1972
After the formal resolution which inaugurated the International Federation of Inventors Association in 1968, its General Assembly elected A. W. Richardson from Great Britain as its president. He published a message in Bulletin about this Federation expressing “it is the beginning of the first effective international co-operation between inventors”.
Mr. Harald A R Romanus
From 1972 to 1976
Harald Anton Reinhold Romanus was elected as the President of the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA) from 1972 to 1976. He was born on April 10, 1904, in Gothenburg and he passed away in July 1996 in Stockholm County. In 1935 he graduated from Harvard University in Electrical Engineering.
In 1934 the Swedish Inventors Association formed Inventor office merged into a new organization called the Swedish Inventor’s Office and Romanus was appointed as its Head. STU was established in 1968 to support technological research and invention better than before and thus promote Sweden’s industrial development. Romanus led STU’s inventive activity until his retirement. Romanus even came to Sweden County to play a prominent role in building international cooperation with organizations and institutions in other countries that were involved with inventiveness and inventor issues. He was one of the initiators of the International Federation of Inventors Association (IFIA). He was a member of The Swedish Inventors’ Association in 1941 and actively participated in its work.
Dr. Friedrich BURMESTER
From 1976 to 1980
Dr. Friedrich BURMESTER was elected as the President of the International Federation of Inventors Associations (IFIA) from 1976 to 1980. He was a German engineer in 1932.
Mr. Leif Gottfred Nordstrand
From 1980 to 1988
Leif Gottfred Nordstrand was elected as the President of the International Federation of Inventors Associations (IFIA) from 1980 to 1988. He was a Norwegian electrical engineer in 1936. He started working in the Board for Industrial Property Office (NIPO) as a chief engineer in 1947. Afterward, he became the Vice-Chairman of the Patent Office in 1961; He succeeded to be its director from 1965 to 1978.
He sat in a German prison from 1941 to 1945; since he was active in the political prisoners’ organizations, including organizing activities for the promotion of the compensation claim against Germany; Moreover, he was the chairman of the Compensation Council committee and member of the committee that drafted the law of 1960 on the division of the German substitutes.
Mr. Clarence P. Feldmann
From 1988 to 1992
Clarence P. Feldmann was elected as the President of IFIA from 1988 to 1992. From 1972, he was General Secretary and Vice-President of the Inventors’ Association of Switzerland, as well as its delegate to the International Federation of Inventors Associations (IFIA). Then, he was elected as a member of the EPI council in 1997. He is the author of the “International Invention Guide” that was translated into eight languages;
Dr. Farag MOUSSA
From 1992 to 2004
Dr. Farag Moussa first worked with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry (1951-1957) and the League of Arab States (1958-1969), as a diplomat and a public relations officer. He then joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) where he worked for 20 years. Although responsible for External Relations and United Nations affairs, Dr. Moussa “invented” a new activity in WIPO: the promotion of inventors and inventions. He was President of IFIA from October 1990 to December 2006. In April 2005, he was elected as the Honorary President of IFIA. Dr. Moussa is the author of 16 books (five on diplomacy and 11 on women inventors published in eight languages: English, French, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, and Finnish). Dr. Moussa has visited over 80 countries from all regions of the world.
Mr. Eduardo Roberto Fernandez
From 2004 to 2006
Eduardo Roberto Fernandez was elected as IFIA President by the unanimous vote of General Assembly in 2005, however, after some time he resigned from this position due to his personal problems.
Dr. András VEDRES
From 2006 to 2014
András VEDRES was born in Budapest in 1940 and received his Ph.D. in 1985. He worked at research laboratories of pharmaceutical companies (EGIS, Richter Rt.) between 1963-1991. He has participated in developing some Hungarian medicines. He is an inventor (21 patents) and has a number of publications in pharmaceutical chemistry. His career in chemistry was terminated by a chemical accident in 1989.
He initiated the formation of the Association of Hungarian Inventors (1989) and appointed as the secretary-general from the beginning. He published a book titled “Sprig of Spirit” in Hungarian and English as well. This is his first book published by Terc Publisher on the 8th of December 2000. The book is about the Hungarian geniuses of the 20th century. He was the president of the National Society of People with Multiple Sclerosis – Hungary (SMBOE) between 2003 and 2006).
