{{Short description|Swiss archaeologist and historian (1949–2020)}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL}} '''Gilbert Kaenel''' (17 September 1949 – 20 February 2020),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hommage à Gilbert Kaenel, dit Auguste (1949 – 2020)|url=https://www.unige.ch/forel/lap/fr/news/hommage-a-gilbert-kaenel-dit-auguste-1949-2020/|last=Besse|first=Marie|date=2020-02-28|website=Laboratoire d'archéologie préhistorique et anthropologie|publisher=University of Geneva|language=fr|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=En mémoire de Gilbert Kaenel|url=https://www.inrap.fr/en-memoire-de-gilbert-kaenel-14901|last=Garcia|first=Dominique|date=2020-02-24|website=Actualités de l'Inrap|publisher=Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives|language=fr|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref> known as "Auguste",<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Hommage à Gilbert Kaenel|url=http://www.mcah.ch/accueil/actualites/hommage-a-gilbert-kaenel/|website=Actualités|publisher=Musée cantonal d'archéologie et d'histoire|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Décès de Gilbert Kaenel|url=https://www.vd.ch/toutes-les-autorites/departements/departement-de-la-formation-de-la-jeunesse-et-de-la-culture-dfjc/actualites/news/12477i-deces-de-gilbert-kaenel/|date=2020-02-24|website=Site officiel état de Vaud|language=fr|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref> was a Swiss archaeologist and historian specialising in the protohistoric and classical periods.<ref name=":0" /> He was the director of the Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History from 1985 to 2014 and a professor at the University of Geneva.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Kaenel was known for his research on the La Tène culture in Switzerland, including his excavations at the eponymous site of La Tène.<ref name=":2" />

== Education and career == Kaenel's bachelor thesis, published in 1974, was a study of decorated Gallo-Roman pottery from Aventicum. He then turned to protohistoric archaeology, specifically the Iron Age and the La Tène culture in Switzerland. His doctoral thesis, published in 1990, was entitled, ''Recherches sur la période de La Tène en Suisse occidentale'' ("Research on the La Tène period in Western Switzerland").<ref name=":2" /> In 2007, he initiated resumed research and excavations at La Tène, a major Iron Age settlement and type site of the La Tène culture, for the first time since 1917.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kaeser|first1=Marc-Antoine|last2=Reginelli Servais|first2=Gianna|date=2018|title=La Tène: une dynamique internationale|url=https://www.academia.edu/38188129|journal=AS Archéologie Suisse|language=fr|volume=41|pages=11–15}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Kaeser|first=Marc-Antoine|date=2017|title=La Tène, nouvelles recherches, nouvelles interprétations|journal=Antiquités|language=fr|volume=8|pages=48–59}}</ref> He also led the discovery of a significant new La Tène site at La Mormont.<ref name=":2" />

He joined the University of Geneva as a ''chargé de cours'' (lecturer) in 1982 and was appointed a full professor in 2002.<ref name=":2" /> He also served as the director of the Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History 1985 from 2014, during which time he significantly expanded the museum, overhauled the display of its permanent collection, and organised some twenty temporary exhibitions.<ref name=":3" />

Kaenel was appointed a Commander of the ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' in 2015.<ref name=":0" /> He was a member of the scientific council of the ''Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives'' (Inrap).<ref name=":0" />

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaenel, Gilbert}} Category:1949 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Swiss archaeologists Category:Swiss curators Category:Classical archaeologists Category:Academic staff of the University of Geneva Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres