By Robert Morgan

Professor Joan Breton Connelly, head archaeologist of Yeronisos island off Peyia, will be given honorary citizenship of Paphos on Friday, June 14 in a ceremony at the Attikon multicultural space in Paphos.

An archaeologist closely associated with both the city and the district of Paphos for 50 years, Connelly’s ceremony will be addressed by Paphos mayor Phedonas Pheodonos. Connelly will also give a presentation entitled “Eyes of Paphos: The Jewel of Ptolemaic Alexandria”.

Connelly will receive this honour for her decades of dedication to the archaeology of Paphos and the island of Yeronisos, in which she has worked as an excavator and researcher vital to the discovery and protection of antiquities in the Paphos district.

Connelly has taught at New York University (NYU) since 1986 and excavated in Greece, Kuwait and Cyprus, where since 1990 she has directed the NYU Archaeological Mission to Yeronisos in Peyia, leading an interdisciplinary investigation of the island’s ecology, geomorphology, archaeology, history and maritime connection.

Connelly has written three books and published numerous shorter works in research collections and scientific journals. Her work has been awarded prizes and distinctions by prominent academic and research institutions in the US, the United Kingdom and Greece.