PhD Thesis
Title: Cocoa Journeys: The Colonial Origins of the Swiss Chocolate Industry in the late 18th century
Expected Completion Date: September 2026
PhD Supervisor: Davide Rodogno and Amalia Ribi Forclaz
Thesis Short Description: Where does Swiss chocolate come from? What is its history and its origins? Most importantly, what are its colonial implications? These compelling questions have been the cornerstone of my doctoral research at the Geneva Graduate Institute since 2022. My work delves into a particular act of the colonial history of Swiss chocolate, tracing the journey cocoa took from the Caribbean plantations to the Ticino merchant warehouses at the end of the 18th century.
Profile
Letizia Pinoja is a PhD candidate at the International History and Politics Department at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She holds a master's degree in International History and Politics from the Geneva Graduate Institute and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Geneva. Her doctoral project aims to retrace the colonial history of Swiss chocolate since the late 18th century.
Publications and Works
- Interviewed by BBC - Have Swiss scientists made a chocolate breakthrough? (27.08.2024)
- MEG Salon – “Le chocolat, le colonialisme... et la Suisse?”, Guest speaker on the Colonial History of Swiss Chocolate (8 June 2024)
- Scientific advisor MHL Musée Lausanne – Exposition on the Lausanne Coloniale (March – October 2024)
- Panelist - Schoggi Festival Zurich – “How much colonialism is there in Swiss chocolate?” (28 March 2024)
- Articles on The Conversation
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Swiss colonial history
- Racism and its historical roots in Switzerland
- The history of food