William St-Clair brought his profound appreciation of the Romantic writings of the early nineteenth century to his study of the Parthenon Marbles. It was this literary expertise in the world of the Godwins and the Shelleys, Byron and Keats, that imbued his work on the building with unusual qualities. Inspired by the poets’ passionate devotion to Greece, he was especially shocked by Elgin’s careless desecration of the Parthenon and dedicated a lifetime of research to the circumstances that had permitted it.

As early as 1967 he published Lord Elgin and the Marbles. The controversial history of the Parthenon Sculptures, which was revised in two subsequent editions and translated into several languages. In 1998 the third edition incorporated the discoveries he had made concerning the treatment of the Marbles by the British Museum. Following the trail for reliable information, he prised open detailed accounts of the cleaning that whitened but disastrously damaged their surfaces.

By questioning the arrangements Elgin made with the local Ottoman authorities, William had revealed much greater detail of their illegality, which also sparked increased attention to the British Museum’s acquisition and guardianship of the Parthenon Marbles. He presented his research in numerous lectures including the annual Runciman lecture at King’s College London in 2012, when Nicholas and Matti Egonhosted a brilliant dinner in his honour. He was Chairman of Open Book Publishers, who also republished his classic study That Greece might still be free. The Philhellenes in the War of Independence’ (1972) in a revised edition in 2008.

We salute William’s determination to unravel the circumstances of the Parthenon Marbles’ journey to England and the significance of the removal of such vital symbols of Greek culture. We will miss his unmistakable presence and enthusiasm at events to celebrate the Marbles and to campaign for their reunification, and we mourn his untimely passing. With deepest condolences to his family and many friends among the giants of the UK literary world. 

BCRPM's Honorary President Anthony Snodgrass knew William St Clair since the 60's and writes:  

'At times, William St.Clair seemed to have lived more than one life. Even in our supposedly 'globalised' age, it came as a revelation to many of his fellow campaigners for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, to learn that he was also an acclaimed literary and historical authority on the Romantic Era - to the point where, on the strength of this, he had been elected a Fellow of the British Academyback in 1992. The same may have been partly true in reverse; and to both parties, it was surprising to find that he had served for years as a senior civil servant in the Treasury, whose research was at first a side-line. His later academic appointments are too numerous to list in detail here, but they covered Trinity College, Cambridge, All Souls at Oxford, the School of Advanced Study in London, Harvard and the Huntington Library in California.'

To read all of Anthony's tribute to William, kindly see the attached here .

You can also hear William speaking to student Nina Kelly in September of 2020 on a subject that he loved to speak about, the Parthenon and its sculptures.

In October 2017, the debating society at UCL schedule a debate for the evening of the 23rd  with the motion: 'This House believes the Elgin Marbles should be repatriated'. The evening, part of society's weekly debate series, was held at the Bloomsbury campus in London  and the speakers for the motion included William St Clair, Tom Flynn and Alexi Kaye Campbell. Below all three speakers pictured with Chair of BCRPM, Janet Suzman. The motion was carried in favour of repatriation.

Converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque is an act of cultural cleansing, writes BCRPM's Professor Judith Herrin.

On Friday, 10 July 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan struck at the very heart of world culture and Istanbul’s essential character when he instigated Turkey’s highest administrative court to issue the order for Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO world heritage site in Istanbul and a global symbol of world history and multicultural representation, to be convert from a museum back to a mosque.

To read the rest of the article, which was published in the Washington Post on 15 July 2020, kindly follow the link here.

Judith Herrin is emeritus professor at King’s College London and the author of “Ravenna, Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe,” to be published in August 2020. Judith is also member of the BCRPM and has been a member for over 3 decades.

UNESCO statement on Hagia Sophia, 10 July 2020

Hagia Sophia: UNESCO deeply regrets the decision of the Turkish authorities, made without prior discussion, and calls for the universal value of World Heritage to be preserved.

Paris, Friday 10 July 2020 – The Director-General of UNESCO deeply regrets the decision of the Turkish authorities, made without prior discussion, to change the status of Hagia Sophia. This evening, she shared her serious concerns with the Ambassador of Turkey to UNESCO.

Hagia Sophia is part of the Historic Areas of Istanbul, a property inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. “Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece and a unique testimony to interactions between Europe and Asia over the centuries. Its status as a museum reflects the universal nature of its heritage, and makes it a powerful symbol for dialogue,” said Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

To read the whole UNESCO statement, you can follow the link here.

 22 July 2020 Athens, Greece

Statements made by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Nikos Dendias with the Minister of Culture and Sport, Lina Mendoni regarding Hagia Sophia
Minister Nikos Dendias: Today, together with the Minister of Culture, Mrs Lina Mendoni, we held a meeting to discuss Agia Sophia, in conjunction with our UNESCO representatives. We have repeatedly stressed that the conversion of Agia Sophia into a mosque is not just a Greek-Turkish difference.
However, of course, for us Greeks, this monument is of particular importance and value.
That is why we have decided to highlight the issue through international initiatives that we will take, as European citizens and as citizens of the global community, by talking to all the international organisations represented also in UNESCO.
Our goal is to protect this monument that has all human value. After it is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The universality of the monument of Agia Sophia was highlighted by the reactions of the global community.
We therefore want to create an umbrella of concrete actions, which will ensure the effective protection of this century-old monument.
We have concluded with the Minister to set up a small working group, which, within ten days, will propose, as a result of the meeting and the exchange of views heard here today, a concrete charter of actions, which, after we have adopted together, we will implement in the near future.
I would like to thank you, Minister, for your presence and the great contribution of the Ministry of Culture, not only in today's meeting, but also in what will follow.

Minister Lina Mendoni: Thank you very much, Minister for today's meeting and your invitation to meet, here, bringing the staff of the two Ministries together in order to see how we proceed to set up a the working group for the very serious issue of Agia Sophia.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Nikos Dendias mentioned this is not an issue that concerns two countries, but the whole world.

Agia Sophia is one of the most important human creations, it is one of the most important monuments, which embraces many universal values.
It is these universal values that are at risk of being lost by the conversion of the monument into a religious mosque.
I believe that the level of discussion we have had enables the Greek Government as a whole to deal with this issue internationally.
The State Department has the initiative and the Ministry of Culture fully support this national effort.

A celebration, and view towards a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together and collectively we celebrate all women today, on International Women's Day, and in 2023, #EmbraceEquity.

Today, we can all celebrate and raise awareness of all that  women have achieved and continue to do so.

Professor Judith Herrin, has this message: 

"On International Women's Day we remember and celebrate Melina Mercouri and Eleni Cubitt, who initiated and inspired the campaign to reunite the Parthenon Marbles. The British Committee continues their efforts led by the redoubtable Janet Suzman."

Duff Cooper Pol Roger Prize 2020 for 'Ravenna. Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe', Heineken Prize for History 2016, Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow, Department of Classics,King's College London and a BCRPM member for nearly 4 decades.

On 02 March, Times2 arts publish a double page article by Chloë Ashby about the 130 women that make up an outstanding collage for the National Portrait Gallery's re-opening.

"When the National Portrait Gallery reopens (22 June) after a three-year revamp, its walls will feature the creations of many more female artists, and even more female faces. Among them are 130 stencilled portraits that have been cut and painted by members of the public and brought together by the British-American pop artist Jann Haworth and her daughter, the abstract collagist Liberty Blake." 

Baroness Chakrabarti is featured on Panel 5.   

And a reminder of what Baroness Chakrabarti said last year, as valid today as it was then:

“There could not be a better moment for the Parthenon Marbles to be reunited in their Athenian home. Let us put international treasures on carefully chartered aeroplanes instead of desperate refugees,” Baroness Chakrabarti, member of BCRPM.

A tribute to Matrona Xylas Egon by Professor Judith Herrin

Matrona Egon, née Xylas, always known as Matti, filled any room she was in with her warm smile and friendly greeting that I recall as a very particular characteristic. As well as a patient capacity to listen politely, she expressed her own opinions in a clear forthright manner, which made conversations lively and interesting. This special skill in combining a generous toleration of views she found reprehensible and highly intelligent responses to such views set a very high standard. Always welcoming, she encouraged a sense of ease and inclusivenesswith a most ‘graceful presence’ as Gonda van Steen puts it. But as the daughter of a famous Greek shipowner, you knew she would have run the business brilliantly.

From the age of twelve Matti was educated in England and alluded frequently to her gratitude to University College London for deepening her love of Greek literature, yet she remained very rooted in her island of Chios, the home of both her parents. Michael Xylas and Stamatia Poutous were the children of Greek families in Chios, where Michael had begun his education while it was still under Ottoman rule. Matti always cherished and sustained her island heritage. With her second husband, the Hungarian painter, Nicholas Egon, she extended her parents’ philanthropic activities and investment in the cultural life of Chios. The primary school Michael had attended at Kardamyla became a cultural centre, and the Homerion, created in the 1970s was later expanded and then donated to the municipality in 1985.

I first became aware of this very beautiful and extremely impressive woman in the early 1990s when I returned to King’s College London from Princeton University to take up the chair of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies. Professor Averil Cameron, my predecessor, had already established close relations with Matti and Nicholas, who had supported the Centre for Hellenic Studies which she set up at King’s. Nicholas had proposed and funded the Runciman lecture, which became an annual celebration of Sir Steven and the most important event in the Centre’s calendar. Over the years Matti and Nicholas helped in the selection of the lecturer, arranged the magnificent floral decorations in white and blue and provided the lavish buffet for the entire audience. In this way the Centre consolidated its hundreds of loyal supporters, who made special visits to London for the lecture.

Their patronage made a huge difference to studies of Hellenic culture of all periods, not only at King's College London, but throughout the UK. Matti’s particularly enthusiasm was for the Greek Archaeological Committee, which she endowed to encourage Greek/Cypriot students to study in the UK. I was very happy to serve on its committee and greatly admired the way Matti would question the applicants' qualifications, the originality of their projects and capacity to achieve their aims. She also noted when they might have financial difficulty in sustaining their postgraduate studies and made additional grants to individuals on top of the generous bursaries they received. These top-up grants were especially appreciated by students who were writing up their PhD research. In recent years, those who gained bursaries and such grants attended the annual GAC lecture at King’s and informed the audience of their interests. The list of university teachers, members of the Greek and Cypriot archaeological services and other researchers who benefitted from these grants is an impressive roll call of current experts.

It was therefore most appropriate that Matti and later Nicholas were honoured with election to the Fellowship of King’s College London, at ceremonies that preceded the regular distribution of degrees. After attending so many dinners hosted by them at the Athenaeum for the Runciman lecturer, it was a very special delight to see them sitting at the top table with the College Principal, Chair of Council and other distinguished guests. They were a truly impressive 'power couple'; philanthropists of the highest order and such good fun as well. Matti would tease Nicholas when he started to get exercised about politics, while he complained at the time she spent looking after the villagers who lived near them at Katakali in the Corinthia. How deeply we will miss them.

An article on Matti Egon printed in 28.09.2014 in Kathimerini on the event which celebrated Matti's 16 years as founder and honorary president of the Greek Archaeological Commission of Great Britain. Plus the article that was printed on Tuesday 20 October also in Kathimerini, paying tribute to Matti's life.