Press Releases

Claremont, California, 10^th December 2024 

Today is the culmination of a joint effort that started more than seven years ago. I am therefore truly happy and moved to be here with you today. Allow me to say a few words to explain what brings me, the ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in the United States (US) and officers from the Department of Antiquities and the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Cyprus to Claremont, almost 7500 miles from our home.

The story begins in 1912 when Colonel Seeley Mudd hired a prospector by the name of Charles Godfrey Gunther to search for ore deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean. Gunther made his way to Cyprus having read reports about the island’s copper mines in ancient texts, including those of Pliny the Elder. Pliny stated that copper was discovered in Cyprus. Indeed, the Latin word for copper derives from Cyprus.

Gunther’s efforts were successful, and this led to the creation of the Cyprus Mines Corporation in 1916. The company was soon taken over by Harvey Mudd, the son of Seeley Mudd and the person in whose memory the college we are here today was named after.

In 1916, Cyprus had already been under British Colonial rule for forty years. This had been preceded by three hundred years of Ottoman rule, which left the island without any important infrastructure, and an economy based on agriculture and therefore vulnerable to drought and pests. But like in Antiquity, it was an island rich in natural resources and human capital.

The company brought modern industrial engineering for the first time and provided jobs for hundreds of people. The Cyprus Mines Corporation was active on the island until 1974 when Turkey invaded. Fifty years later, Turkey still illegally occupies 38% of Cyprus.

The modern miners, while working the copper ore deposits, discovered remains of ancient galleries and smelting workshops but also settlements, cemeteries, and sanctuaries. Some of these finds that were found in these ancient sites made their way to private collections, some of which were exported from Cyprus with permission of the British Colonial Government.

As a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cyprus whose research focuses on the ancient production and trade of Cypriot copper, these finds were of great interest to me. Thus, in July of 2017, I decided to reach out to Prof. Maria Klawe, the President of Harvey Mudd College, where I knew that the collection of Cypriot Antiquities of Harvey Mudd was kept, and ask for permission to study it.

Prof. Klawe informed Tory Mudd and the Trustees of the college and wrote back saying that they had decided that the collection should be returned to Cyprus and more specifically to the University of Cyprus, where the collection could be put used to train students from the Department of History and Archaeology. This news was welcomed with great enthusiasm.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Since the Turkish invasion, many Cypriot Antiquities have been illicitly trafficked from the island, and the Department of Antiquities, the competent authority of the Republic of Cyprus for the protection and management of the island’s archaeological heritage, invests a lot of time, effort, and funds to locate and repatriate stolen artefacts, with the help of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here was an opportunity to repatriate a large collection without the hassle of a drawn-out legal battle.

In December of 2018, the then Rector of the University of Cyprus, Prof. Constantinos Christofides, and myself came to California to accept the donation, to catalogue the objects, and to organise the shipping. It took exactly six years and many ups and downs, including the world pandemic, until we reached this day when the collection will be finally returned to Cyprus.

Last year, I left the University to take up the position of Deputy Minister of Culture. The newly established Deputy Ministry consists of the Department of Antiquities, the Department of Contemporary Culture and the Cyprus Handicraft Service. The Cyprus Library, namely the National Library, the National Theatre, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra are also under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Ministry of Culture, as are numerous museums and art galleries. The mission of the Deputy Ministry is to protect and showcase Cyprus’ cultural heritage, ancient, traditional and contemporary, tangible and intangible, to support the creative industries, and to create an environment in which artists can work and thrive.

The repatriation of the Harvey Mudd Collection became a priority for me, and with the help of the Department of Antiquities, it could finally materialise. I am grateful to everyone who worked for this to finally happen, namely the Director and officers from the Department of Antiquity, especially Eftychia Zaxariou, Eleni Loizidou, Elena Stylianou and Stella Pissaridou, who are here to oversee the packing and accompany the antiquities back, the Ambassador and the staff of the Cyprus Embassy in Washington DC, who took care of all the practical matters and without whose assistance none of this would be possible, the director of my office, Dr Skevi Christodoulou, who was the liaison officer between the embassy and the Department of Antiquities, and finally the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Mrs Emmanuela Lambrianidou, who secured the necessary funding. Also sincere thanks to the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Donnelly, and Andrea Caldera from Harvey Mudd, and of course, Maria Klawe and the Trustees of the College who supported the idea of the donation of the collection.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Tory Mudd who has been the driving force behind all this. Tory, we are grateful to you and your family. Thanks to you, the objects are coming home. What a great day indeed.

Thank you all for being here with us today to be a part of this joyous event 

(ΕΚ/IA/GS)