Emil Schreyger, who served as secretary of the Swiss Society for African Studies from 1981–1987, has thankfully summarised his personal recollections of the early phase of African Studies in Switzerland in a 90-page document, which is now available for download on our Society’s website. Schreyger studied general history and political science at the University of Zurich with a guest stay at the École des hautes etudes en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Via Prof. Rudolf von Albertini he came to African Studies. On his advice, Schreyger wrote a licentiate thesis on the Office du Niger, which also took him to West Africa. In his publication, he interweaves memories of his personal career with the history of the SSAS and African Studies in Switzerland in general. In the process, he provides insights into the internal debates on the academic orientation of our society.
Emil Schreyger: Entstehung und Werdegang der Afrikanistik und der Afrikaforschung in der Schweiz. Ebmatingen 2023 (Selbstverlag).