ESAG 50th Anniversary

In 1975, the Swiss Mission in Eretria officially received the title of School of Archaeology. The year 2025 therefore marks a milestone for ESAG. An official evening event, Wednesday November 19, will bring together Swiss and Greek political, academic, and diplomatic authorities to celebrate fifty years of research, cooperation, and friendship between Switzerland and Greece.

Swiss archaeologists at work in Eretria, watercolor by Sypros Vasiliou, 1975

Program

Lausanne, Palais de Rumine, Aula, 19/11/2025

> Follow the Ceremony live

6:30 p.m. – Official Ceremony

Welcome addresses
• Mr. Pascal Broulis, Member of the Council of States, President of the Foundation of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece
• Mr. Frédéric Herman, Rector of the University of Lausanne
• Mr. Frédéric Borloz, State Councillor of the Canton of Vaud, Head of the Department of Education and Training
• H.E. Mr. Stefan Estermann, Ambassador of Switzerland to Greece
• H.E. Ms. Ekaterini Simopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to Switzerland
• Mr. Guy Parmelin, Federal Councillor, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

7:15 p.m. – Keynote Lecture

Swiss Archaeology in Greece: the Study of a Living Past
by Sylvian Fachard, Director of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Lausanne

7:50 p.m. – Performance

This weight we choose to bear, in collaboration with the Flux Laboratory, in the Atrium of the Palais de Rumine,
Presented by Cynthia Odier, Director of the Flux Laboratory.
Concept and choreography: Polena Kolia Petersen
Artists, co-creation: Dora Sarri, Kestrel Farin Leah, Marissa Bili, Penny Eleftheriadou

8:10 p.m. – Reception

This 50th-anniversary celebration will offer a special occasion to reflect on the achievements of the ESAG over the past five decades and to look ahead to the future of Swiss archaeological research in Greece.