Michel Egloff

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Michel Egloff (29 January 1941 – 29 July 2021) was a Swiss prehistorian who founded two important museums: the Musée d’archéologie de Neuchâtel, which houses the canton's archaeological service, and the Laténium archaeology museum in Hauterive. He served as chair of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Neuchâtel, retired in 2006, and became an honorary professor.

Born in Vevey to teacher parents, Egloff studied literature at the University of Lausanne and began his archaeology work with the Canton of Vaud. His first excavations were in Avenches, where he helped uncover ceramic findings. His doctoral thesis was supervised by André Leroi-Gourhan, and he participated in the discovery of cave paintings in Lascaux. He developed a strong interest in how myth and religion appear in prehistoric art and helped discover a rock shelter near Baulmes in 1966. After defending his thesis at the Sorbonne, he taught history in Yverdon-les-Bains and was curator of the Musée d’Yverdon. In 1969 he became a professor at the University of Neuchâtel, while also serving as curator of the Neuchâtel Archaeology Museum and an archaeologist for Vaud. In 1986 he was elected president of the Swiss-Liechtenstein Foundation for Archaeological Research Abroad, a position he held for 12 years, and he conducted research trips with former students. In 1999 he received the Prix de l’Institut neuchâtelois. He was honored as Officer of the Ordre des Palmes académiques in 2006, the same year he retired and became an honorary professor. In 2018 he received the Médaille de la médiation archéologique from the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. Egloff died on 29 July 2021 at age 80.