Christ's College - University of Cambridge

Darwin Celebration Dinner

The bicentenary celebrations of the birth of Charles Darwin will start with a festive fundraising dinner to be held in College on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

The evening marks the start of an exciting collaboration between Christ's College and the Galapagos - both places so closely associated with the development of Darwin's radical thinking.

Darwin was an undergraduate at Christ's prior to his five year voyage on the Beagle, and returned to the College in the period immediately afterwards. It was from observations made on the voyage, especially of the Galapagos mockingbirds, that Darwin later drew the evidence to support his theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

Places at the dinner will be limited to a maximum of 80 guests, who will each be asked to contribute £5,000, of which £4,750 will be a donation towards establishing a lasting research link between Christ's College and the Galapagos Islands.

The festivities will be held at Christ's College, and the evening will begin with a series of short presentations, chaired by Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, on Darwin and the Galapagos, covering both the scientific and historical background and current challenges. This will be followed by a dinner hosted by the Master of Christ's, Frank Kelly, and we are delighted that Sir David Attenborough has very kindly agreed to be our guest of honour. Andrew Marr, the President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, will join us for the occasion, as will Randal Keynes and Sarah Darwin, both great great grandchildren of Charles Darwin.