Prof. Dr. Christiana Fountoulakis

Professor in Private Law at the University of St.Gallen
Nationality: Switzerland
Course: International Sales Law (CISG)

Professor Christiana Fountoulakis is a Swiss scholar in private and international sales law. From 2010 to July 2025, she was holding the Chair in Civil Law at the University of Fribourg. Since August 2025, she is a Professor in Private Law at the University of St.Gallen.

She was President of the IBL from 2023 to 2025.

Professor Fountoulakis completed her legal studies at the University of Basel alongside studies in piano at the Basel Music Academy. In 2004, she earned her doctoral degree summa cum laude and served as Max Geldner Assistant Professor at Basel University until her habilitation in 2009.

Professor Fountoulakis has published extensively in international sales law, comparative contract law, arbitration, international private law, EU private law, and media law. She co-edits several law journals, such as the ‘Internationales Handelsrecht’, the ‘Zeitschrift für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht’, and the ‘European Journal of Law Reform’. She is the author, or editor, of numerous leading textbooks and commentaries on Swiss law and has contributed to leading commentaries on the CISG. Her work’s influence is reflected in citations by highest instance courts, including the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the German Federal Court, and the Swedish Supreme Court—collectively citing her research about 160 times by 2025.

She served as rapporteur for the CISG Advisory Council’s Opinion No. 18 on Set off under the CISG.

She received the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2010 for her research in international trade law.

She is a member of the Council of the European Law Institute and was a member of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Research Council from 2015 to 2025.