The Greek Archaeological Committee UK turns forty, marked at Cyprus House by Professor Maria Iacovou and the patrons who have funded a generation of its scholars.
The Greek Archaeological Committee UK celebrates its 40th anniversary at Cyprus House in St James’s on Wednesday 2 December 2026. Professor Emerita Maria Iacovou of the University of Cyprus presents the evening.
The Committee was founded in 1986 to fund postgraduate work in Hellenic archaeology at British universities. In four decades it has carried more than 80 graduate archaeologists through to a higher degree.
It is a committee rather than an institute, with no building and no excavation of its own. A doctorate in Hellenic archaeology is expensive and poorly funded by the standard research councils. One grant arriving at the right moment can decide whether a thesis becomes a career.
The evening is about that funding. Iacovou is joined by the Committee’s patrons and by the supervisors who trained its scholars. The event is free and booked in advance.
The Cultural Section of the Cyprus High Commission hosts the evening on St James’s Square. The Section programmes its own building throughout the year, and this is its December date in a programme of film, lecture and exhibition evenings.