Louis Marchesi

Eminio William Louis Marchesi (January 19, 1898 - December 10, 1968) founded the Round Table."

The foundation of Round Table was laid in 1927 when the then Prince of Wales said in a speech, at the British Industries Fair, in Birmingham, "The young business and professional men of this country must get together round the table, adopt methods that have proved to be so sound in the past, adapt them to the changing needs of the time and, whenever possible, improve them".citequote

Picking up this challenge, the first Round Table was formed at Suckling House in Norwich, England on March 14th, 1927. The founder, Eminio William Louis Marchesi was born 19th January 1898 of an Irish Mother, and a Swiss Father, was a young member of Norwich Rotary Club. He felt a need existed for a club where the young business men of the town could gather on a regular basis. Unsatisfied with the organization of existing service clubs, dominated by the older members of the community, he stated in a speech in front of other Rotarians:

"I become aware of how hard it is to persuade older gentlemen that I know what I am doing and what I am saying. I know how one feels to do this or that according to your point of view, which seems, to you elder gentlemen, the only possible way, but does not appear as such to me. What we need is a club of young men, where they may get together and exchange their own ideas, without having them imposed upon them by their elders. Young men want to think by themselves. What we need is a club reserved exclusively to young men."citequote

The following phrases are also generally attributed to him:

# "There are things we must do"citequote
# "There are things we can do"citequote
# "And there are things we should do"citequote

Thus pointing out the problem of change and reform, which can only be achieved by young people. He realised that this kind of change needs a new form of organization - bringing about the Round Table.

The inaugural meeting, on 14 March 1927, was well attended and so the new club came into being with Marchesi as Secretary and other Rotarians among its officers. At their meetings, around the table as the Prince of Wales had suggested, they could exchange ideas, learn from the experiences of their colleagues and play a collective role in the civic life of Norwich. From a very early stage it was agreed that Round Table would be a non-religious, non-political club and this has continued to this day.

The first club was soon followed by a second and then several more. On May 25, 1928, the National Association of Round Table Clubs was formed at a meeting held at Rotary's London offices and the RIBI conference of 1928 actually passed a motion "That this conference recommends the Rotarians of Great Britain and Ireland to foster the promotion of clubs of young business and professional men similar to the Norwich Round Table Club" . In 1936 the first overseas Round Table appeared, in Denmark, and Round Table subsequently became an international organisation in its own right.

Round Table now flourishes in the majority of European countries, throughout Africa, the Middle East, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand and America. In fact Round Table is represented in every continent of the World.

Today Round Table covers 44 000 members in over 70 countries in the world.Fact|date=January 2008