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News > Alumni > STOCKHOLM GATHERING

STOCKHOLM GATHERING

On 22 May, Christ Church alumni met at Sällskapet, in Stockholm, to celebrate the College’s 500th Anniversary. The event was organised by André Andersson (1986, Law) and Wilhelm Engström.
24 Jun 2025
Alumni

An impressive number of participants had signed up for the dinner, 32 in total, including spouses. The most senior participant was David Smith, who matriculated in 1959 (Biochemistry), and the most junior was Petr Vesnovskii (Water Science, Policy & Mangement), who matriculated in 2020.

The evening commenced by Jeremy Carpenter, from the Royal Opera in Stockholm, singing 'When I was a Lad' by Gilbert & Sullivan with enthusiastic audience participation in the choruses. Thereafter he sang 'The Hippopotamus Song' by Flanders & Swann (who were both Christ Church Alumni). Jeremy was accompanied on piano by one of the local alumni, Krystian Bellière (1988, Music), also from the Royal Opera.

Before the guests sat down to enjoy the dinner, André Andersson read the College Grace and Veronika Kovacs, from the Development Office, gave a short update about the current state of affairs at the House. The guests of honour were HE Samantha Job (1988, History), British Ambassador to Sweden, and Law Emeritus Student Professor John Cartwright, who both gave short speeches.

Professor David Smith, who was a member of the Governing Body at the time when women were first admitted to Christ Church, gave an entertaining account of the intrigues before the momentous decision was finally taken and of how his (future) wife became the first non-royal woman to dine at the High Table. After the dinner, Professor Wilhelm Engström gave a talk about Christ Church and its literary heritage.

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