{"id":2401,"date":"2025-12-17T10:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T09:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.machupicchu-ciudadela.com\/thierry-jamin-does-not-have-any-degrees\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T16:46:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T14:46:49","slug":"thierry-jamin-does-not-have-any-degrees","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.machupicchu-ciudadela.com\/en\/thierry-jamin-does-not-have-any-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Thierry Jamin does not have any degrees!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New attack<\/h4><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Thierry Jamin does not have any degrees<\/h1><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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In April 2013, there was another attack. The Director of Culture in Cusco declared that Thierry Jamin had not studied and had no qualifications. He based his claim on a supposed letter received from the French authorities warning them of the dangers of his plan to open the gate at Machu Picchu. Of course, this official, who was dismissed from his post a few months later, never showed this letter. And for good reason: it doesn't exist! <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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On Friday, April 19, 2013, Thierry Jamin and Spanish archaeologist Daniel Merino P\u00e1nizo visited the Ministry of Culture in Lima, where they delivered a letter addressed to the Deputy Minister of Culture, Mr. Rafael Varon, in which the two researchers expressed their surprise at not yet having received a response to the appeal they had filed in December 2012 against the Directorial Resolution of November 5, denying them permission to conduct new research at Machu Picchu. The legal deadline for responding to this appeal was thirty working days, which had long since passed. The response will not be long in coming... <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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New attack from local officials at the Ministry of Culture: Thierry Jamin has no degrees!<\/h2>\n

On April 23, 2013, a new case was brought against Thierry Jamin. In its national edition, the newspaper El Comercio<\/span><\/strong><\/em> ran a headline on page A12 reading, \u201cFrance reveals that a fake archaeologist attempted to excavate Machu Picchu. It warns that Frenchman Thierry Jamin, who wanted to search for the tomb of Pachac\u00fatec, has no scientific training.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to this article, the Director General of Culture in Cusco, David Ugarte Vega Centeno, had just declared that \u201cFrench citizen Thierry Jamin, who claimed to be conducting excavations at Machu Picchu in search of the tomb of Pachac\u00fatec, was not an archaeologist and had no scientific training.\u201d This information was reportedly communicated to him by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which wanted to alert the Peruvian authorities to the risk that the citadel of Machu Picchu might be facing. Ms. V\u00e9ronique Gervais, from the French Ministry's Sub-Directorate for Research and Scientific Exchange, reportedly met with the Peruvian Ambassador to France, to whom she reported the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe French Foreign Affairs Department,\u201d the newspaper continues, quoting David Ugarte, \u201chas sent a letter to the Peruvian authorities warning them that Thierry Jamin is considered a person who could harm our heritage and damage Franco-Peruvian relations in the field of archaeology.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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El Comercio<\/h4>

April 23, 2013<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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We investigated the matter on site with those involved. This whole affair was nothing more than a huge manipulation orchestrated by officials from the Regional Directorate of Culture in Cusco, designed to discredit Thierry Jamin and his group and justify the local authorities' refusal to grant them a permit to continue their research at Machu Picchu. We will prove it... <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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On April 25, 2013, the newspaper El diario el Sol del Cusco<\/strong><\/em><\/span> ran the headline \u201cDavid Ugarte dijo que har\u00e1 respetar los derechos del Cusco. DRC no teme denuncia de huaquero franc\u00e9s.<\/em>\u201c As always, the author of the article, \u201djournalist\" Grimaldo Z\u00faniga C., who is linked to the Regional Directorate of Culture \u2013 Cusco, is as insulting as ever toward the French researcher.<\/p>\n

In a four-column article published by El diario el Sol del Cusco<\/em> on April 25, Grimaldo Z\u00faniga and David Ugarte continue their campaign of misinformation and defamation against Jamin. For the Regional Director of Culture \u2013 Cusco, David Ugarte, the complaint filed against him by the French explorer does not scare him. Quite the contrary! \u201cHe reaffirms that Jamin is nothing more than a simple adventurer and a huaquero, who, without any professionalism or equipment, claims to surprise everyone so that he will be allowed to carry out excavations at Machu Picchu.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Regional Director of Culture for Cusco, David Ugarte Vega Centeno, reiterates his attacks against Thierry Jamin: \u201cI reaffirm my statement that he is an adventurer, not an archaeologist, and I have a communication from France and UNESCO in which leading authorities point out that this person has no recognized level of education, and now this gentleman says that he is not an archaeologist but a geographer. So, is a geographer going to do excavations?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\"El<\/span><\/div>

El Diario el Sol del Cusco<\/h4>

April 25, 2013<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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In his numerous statements, David Ugarte Vega Centeno claims to have received a letter from the French government alerting the Peruvian authorities about Thierry Jamin: \u201cTo back this up,\u201d Ugarte asserts, \u201cwe are showing an official document from the French government, and when the court summons me, I will appear to prove what I have just said, and I hope that this gentleman will not walk free from Cusco.\u201d These threats were reported in the newspaper El Comercio<\/em> on April 25, 2013, on the front page and on page 2. <\/p>\n

In fact, David Ugarte shows a letter<\/strong><\/span> he received from the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are still waiting to see the letter from the French authorities! <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru<\/h4>

April 23, 2013<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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A timid clarification from the French authorities regarding Thierry Jamin's degrees...<\/h3>\n

On May 29, 2013, Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent a letter<\/strong><\/span> to Thierry Jamin in which he formally denied all the information circulated in Peru against him. In somewhat diplomatic terms, the French minister explained that the controversy was due to \u201ca misinterpretation of the information by the Peruvian media\u201d... <\/p>\n

Generally speaking, it must be said that the attitude of the French authorities throughout the controversy was, to say the least, very discreet. One might have expected a little more support from France in the face of such violent attacks. In Lima, archaeologists from the French Institute of Andean Studies (IFEA) are rather critical. They view this affair involving Thierry Jamin with suspicion. It could jeopardize intercultural relations between France and Peru. This is especially true given that, at the same time (March 2013), the auction in Paris of around 100 pre-Columbian objects from Peru, despite opposition from the Peruvian authorities, had already somewhat damaged bilateral relations between the two countries. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\"Lettre<\/span><\/div>

Letter from Laurent Fabius<\/h4>

May 29, 2013<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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Focus on Thierry Jamin's degrees<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Thierry Jamin studied history and geography at Fran\u00e7ois Rabelais University in Tours:<\/p>\n