History

In 1907, in Paris, Professor Jean-Casimir-Félix Guyon—France’s very first professor of urology— and some 20 fellow urologists from Europe, the United States and South America founded the Association Internationale d'Urologie. Its first Congress, held in Paris in September 1908, was followed by two others: London in 1911 and Berlin in 1914.

In 1919, the Association Internationale d'Urologie became the Société Internationale d'Urologie. It included nearly 300 members at the time.

As was the case with most learned societies, membership was restricted to a fortunate few from the medical elite of select countries. This situation was finally reversed in 1997, when the Society abolished country quotas and extended membership to all qualified, praticising urologists.

In 2007, the SIU celebrated its centennial in its birthplace, Paris. The SIU President at the time, Dr. Alain Jardin, penned a history of the Society’s first century. Please click on the links to view the document and slide show.

Since 2003, the SIU Central Office in Montreal, Canada serves members worldwide, matches scholars to its accredited training centres, and organizes its now-annual Congresses.

Currently, the SIU is comprised of over 10,000 members.

SIU Executive, 1907-2013

The history of the SIU - PDF

A brief history of the SIU - PowerPoint