Laura Ranieri Roy
Director and Founder

… an accomplished Egyptologist, educator, presenter, and writer.

Laura is founder and director of Ancient Egypt Alive (2013) and its emerging affiliates Ancient Greece Alive and Ancient Worlds Alive. Her vision is to educate and inspire history lovers about great civilizations through learning events, online resources and travel experiences.

Laura holds a Master’s degree in Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations from the University of Toronto, and has excavated at the ancient Greek site of Apollonia in Bulgaria, and in Egypt at Amarna and South Asasif (Luxor). She creates specialized tours and has travelled to Egypt at least 12 times (losing count now).

Educator at Late Life Learning Institutes

She lectures on ancient Egypt and ancient civilizations, and has taught across North America at museums, historical societies, and academic conferences. She is a popular speaker amongst “Later Life Learning” Networks: Ryerson University’s Life Institute, LLIR at York University/Glendon College (from Fall 2021) and Innis College University of Toronto (from Jan 2022). She has  been an Egyptian history Specialist Partner for the Toronto District School Board (Canada’s largest school board).

Dramatic beginnings:

In addition to her academic and education work focused on ancient cultures and archeology (her first love), Laura holds a BA in English Drama and is a writer and performer who began her career as an actress/TV travel host, notably filming a TV documentary on Greece (CHCH TV 11).

A born history geek, she won a University scholarship for Latin and classical studies… and attributes her childhood passion for ancient history to the iconic BBC TV show series I Claudius – and the works of Shakespeare, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Eruipedes. The rest is history!

Francois Roy
Educator/Consultant

…an Egyptologist and more: a classics, military history and modern European history expert

Francois Roy: graduated with an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Toronto in 2008 and also holds degree in Modern European history and military history from the University of Alberta.

A true all-history expert, he brings a deep background in classical and modern European history and has an encyclopedic knowledge of great events through the march of time.

Francois has excavated in Campania, Italy at the 6th Century BCE site of  Roccagloriosa, at ancient site of Buxentum (600 BCE to 200 BCE), along with prehistoric sites in Alberta – and at the 25th  Dynasty site of South Asasif, west bank Luxor, Egypt in 2015.

He has lectured at the Life Insitute (Ryerson), SSEA  and Near Eastern Studies U of T colloquiums and at select schools and museums across North America.