Elise Schwaller

Elise Schwaller is a lecturer-guide whose work takes as its starting point the history of Marseille, a gateway to the Atlantic and a witness to the colonial empires from the 15th to the 20th century. Trained in the demanding environment of the French preparatory classes (history, culture, philosophy) and later a graduate of a leading institution, she brings together historical culture, an understanding of social dynamics, and field experience.
An independent traveller, she has lived and travelled abroad for several years, including a semester of study in India, with a particular interest in the Atlantic’s coastal and island worlds, where maritime routes, conquest, slavery, migrations, cultural mixing, and contemporary memories intersect. Her lectures draw on primary sources, old maps, iconography, and travellers’ accounts, to recount colonial and postcolonial history from the shores: how empires were built, and how local societies resisted, transformed, and reinvented their worlds.
An experienced speaker, comfortable both on stage and in leading audiences, she designs her lectures as vivid and carefully structured narratives, where history sheds light on the present and accompanies travellers’ perspectives at every port of call. She brings forward both great historical figures and overlooked voices and does not hesitate to draw on music when it lies at the heart of an identity.
On board, her talks become spaces for reflection designed to spark curiosity and offer keys to understanding the contemporary world.

Languages spoken: French, English, Spanish

 

Photo credit: ARR