During the
interwar period, 8 congresses were organized by the
Royal Academy of Italy, 4 under the direction of the physics branch, 2 by the history branch, 1 by the letter branch and 1 by the art branch. All travel expenses and food was covered by the organizers. It was organized by
Orso Mario Corbino and
Guglielmo Marconi along with
Enrico Fermi as secretary. Mussolini presided the event. It was notable for the participation of a number of mainly
fascist theorizers and politicians. It was presided by professor of hygiene at the
Royal University of Naples, . Notable artists like
Federico García Lorca,
Vsevolod Meyerhold,
Eugene O'Neill,
Karel Čapek and
Paul Claudel were invited.
VI Volta Congress on figurative art The 1936 Volta Congress focused on
figurative art. It was presided by
Marcello Piacentini. It was attended by architect
Le Corbusier who gave a lecture.
VIII Volta Congress on nutrition The 1937 Volta Congress focused on current state of knowledge on nutrition. It was presided by
Filippo Bottazzi.
VIII Volta Congress on Africa The 1938 Volta Congress' topic was "Africa". It was presided by , with the involvement of
Raffaele Pettazzoni and
Luigi Federzoni.
Cancelled IX Volta Congress on mathematics The followup IX Volta Congress on contemporary mathematics and applications in September–October 1939 was not held due to
World War II. It was to be presided by
Francesco Severi and
Enrico Bompiani. Before its cancellation, mathematician
Tullio Levi-Civita, in a letter to
Gheorghe Vrănceanu, announced that he will not participate in the congress for concerns of antisemitism.
Jan Arnoldus Schouten wrote to the
Royal Academy of Italy that he refused to attend as mathematicians like Levi-Civita,
Guido Fubini,
Beniamino Segre,
David van Dantzig and
Ludwig Berwald were excluded for racial discrimination. == Later editions ==