Among all the friends of our cause, whether in Greece, Britain or other countries, Charalambos Bouras stood out not just for his high standing and dignity, but especially for his practical knowledge and expertise in the architectural field.   Architecture has a central importance in the movement for reuniting the Marbles: it was the architecture of the Parthenon, perhaps even more than its sculptures, that suffered worst from Elgin’s vandalism.  

So to have the friendship of this uniquely respected authority was a real boon.

That respect was based above all on his achievement in regard to the restoration of the Parthenon and the other Acropolis monuments.   As President of the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments, Professor Bouras was involved in a whole series of enlightened decisions, taken after the beginning of the most recent programme of work in 1975.   The enhanced status given to YSMA, the Acropolis Restoration Service, resulted in expediting the work to the point where completion could be achieved in most of its essential aspects.  

Co-operation between a scholarly committee and a huge team of technical experts had brought about something that is secure against even the most jaundiced disparagement of Greece and its cultural policies.   He was the natural choice to contribute a chapter on this work of rescue and restoration to the 2008 edition of the late Christopher Hitchens’s book, The Parthenon Marbles:The Case for Reunification.  

Those of us who met him in person will always remember Charalambos Bouras for his wisdom and restraint: quite simply, he seemed to be operating on a higher level than the rest of us.

Professor Anthony Snodgrass, Hon President for the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

The Committee of the BCRPM has learned with great sadness of the death of Professor Charalambos Bouras, a leading light of the campaign to restore and conserve the monuments of the Acropolis. We send our deepest condolences to all Professor Bouras's family, friends and colleagues.

Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek Culture emeritus University of Cambridge Faculty of Classics and Vice-Chair of the BCRPM

In addition to Charalambos Bouras many achievements and publications including the report of the 2013 international consultation on the future of the Acropolis, I will remember him - and miss him - as a generous friend.

I will treasure my own conversations with Charalambos but especially during a wonderful walk round the peripatos. Although he leaves a huge gap, am certain that all those working with the Acropolis Restoration Service will continue Professor Bouras great work.

 William St Clair

Congratulations to Chris Froome on winning this year's Tour de France. 

Chris also won the 2013 and 2015 races and is the first to successfully defend his title in more than 20 years. He finished this years epic race, arm-in-arm with his team-mates behind the peloton after Andre Greipel won the final sprint finish.

Cycling has also featured in the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. Three very different and very dedicated individuals, share their passion for cycling with a deep desire to see this peerless work of art reunited in the Acropolis Museum, in Athens, Greece.

Currently the surviving Parthenon marbles are mainly (and almost equally) divided between two great museums - the British Museum in London, where their collection has been displayed for 200 years and the Acropolis Museum in Athens, which recently celebrated it's seventh year. It is in Athens, that the sculptures can be seen in the context of the Parthenon itself.  

Decades of campaigning and centuries of requests to do the 'right' thing and return these fragmented sculptures has resulted in the main reason stopping the British Museum  from doing the right thing. In the BM, these sculptures form part of world history. Over six millions visitors  to the British Museum are  shown how they should 'see' history in the context of other objects and their stories.

Back to cycling. Healthy past time for many (of all ages) and a leading sport for many more. But how did three individuals bring cycling into the campaign for the reunification?

We have to start with the outstanding Dr Christopher Stockdale, a long serving BCRPM member, inspired by Anne Mustoe. He bravely cycled from the courtyard of the British Museum on 15 April 2005 to the foot of the Acropolis in Athens and made his way with his bike all the way to the Parthenon. It took Chris 3 weeks, 3 days, 5 hours and 26.6 minutes to complete this cycle. More on this story here.

On Tuesday 01 July 2014, Dr Luca Lo Sicco embarked on his first bicycle trip from the British Museum, across Europe to Greece and the Acropolis Museum, where he donated his bicycle to the museum. Professor Pandermalis, President of the Acropolis Museum sent him this letter. 

Luca continued his cycling the following year to Copenhagen, Denmark. It is here, in the National Museum of Denmark, there are two heads missing from a metope, which is in  the British Museum in London.

On 02 July 2014, the edition of the Yorkshire Post Life & Style Magazine, carried an article on formidable octagenerian, Michelle Patrax Evans. Also a keen cyclist, Michelle lives in Leeds and was looking forward to the tour de France of 2014 but she has been passionate about the sculptures from the Parthenon for decades.

Before her interview with journalist Sarah Freeman, Michelle frantically made contact to ask, was cycling a part of the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles! And was delighted to find out that its is.

Cannot describe Michelle's response when we did exlain that Dr Chris Stockdale had made an amazing trip in 2005 before the Acropolis Museum had opened and that Luca, a University lecturer living in Britain was embarking on the same journey on the 1st of July 2014.

The Yorkshire Post Life & Style magazine can be viewed on line and a small selected part of the article can be viewed here

And with cycling playing a significant role for campaigners of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, we would like to add our heartfelt congratulations to Chris Froome on winning the Tour de France yesterday and for the third time. A great achievement.

11 July 2016, a cross-party group of MPs submitted a Private Members' Bill to UK's Parliament calling for a change in the law to allow the British Museum to transfer ownership of the Parthenon marbles to Greece. This initiative led by Mark Williams is supported by Roger Gale, Margaret Ferrier, Jeremy Lefroy, Mary Glindon, Hywel Williams, and Liz Saville Roberts hopes to right a 200 year wrong.

This Presentation Bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons on 20 January 2017.

More on this and the British Museums response from the article in the Museums Journal.

20 June 2016, is the Acropolis Museum's 7th anniversary. The museum has welcomed 9.5 million visitors since 2009 and looks to exceed 10 million by this autumn.

“We have been able to retain the numbers of visitors since the first year,” Professor Pandermalis commented. "The main aims for the seventh year of operation has been maintaining the high level of services to visitors, increasing digital applications in exhibition halls and introducing an innovative program for temporary exhibitions" he added.

The Acropolis Museum was built to house what has been discovered on the Acropolis and the surrounding area, covering a wide period from the Mycenaeans to Romans and Early Christians in Athens.

From today 20 June 2016  and up to 10 January 2017 on the Temporary Exhibition Gallery, on the ground floor of the Acropolis Museum, visitors can experience Dodona, the oracle of sound.

This exhibition will provide a wider knowledge about the oldest Greek oracle, Dodona - tracing the way it functioned, its role and importance in the ancient world, and at the same time showcasing the human need to predict the future.

The exhibit’s narration begins with Dodona during the late Bronze Age. Clay and bronze artifacts illuminate the identity of the first inhabitants, the primitive cult of Mother Earth (Earth Goddess) and the establishment of Zeus’ cult. The main focus of this exhibition lies in Zeus and his predominant presence in the sanctuary. The central theme is the prophetic oak tree that with the rustle of its leaves would answer the agonizing questions of people and of what lies ahead.

Prophecies were also given by priests who de-coded the sounds of bronze cauldrons and the cooing of pigeons. The excavations conducted in Dodona have brought to light some thousands of questions carved in metal sheets of lead, posed by visitors in the sanctuary. Some of these questions concern matters of trade, debts, assets, court decisions, health, fertility, upcoming marriage, dowries and widowhood and are presented in a separate unit of the exhibition.

From the dedications in the sanctuary parts of bronze statues, parts of armory, swords and part of their suspensions, dedications from those who benefited from the gods or invoked their help are also displayed. Characteristic coins highlight the political aspect of the Oracle and its connection with Pyrros, the King of Epirus. Lastly, the relationship between the city of Athens and Dodona is presented by two exhibits from the Acropolis Museum.

This exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue of the items on display. On a big screen of the exhibition area, a video presentation will provide information about the Oracle and the natural environment surrounding it.

During the exhibition, the Museum’s restaurant will offer treats from Ioannina.

This exhibition is hosted  at the Acropolis Museum with the collaboration of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina. The exhibits are on a loan from the Ioannina Museum and the National Archaeological Museum, Carapanos Collection.

Entrance to the Dodona temporary exhibition is 3 euros. Tickets are available for sale at the museum’s ticket desk.

It is lunacy to believe you own the moon, and no amount of tomato juice you spill into the sea will make its water yours. Yet we ask the question “who owns antiquity?” as if it were a sane one.

There is a reason for this. It’s the reason why Dennis Hope, founder of the Lunar Embassy and self-dubbed President of the Galactic Government, is no lunatic but an entrepreneur who has sold over 600m acres of “extraterrestrial real estate” to over 6m people. It’s the reason why Nestlé has rebranded itself as a corporate water steward, while bottling ground water at the expense of local communities.

It’s also the reason why today (07 June 2016), on the 200th anniversary of the British parliamentary vote to purchase the sculptures that Lord Elgin sawed off the Parthenon, the British Museum continues to insist that its trustees are legally entitled to the sculptures.

Read more from this article in The Conversation here.

Constantine Sandis, Professor of Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire

Eddie O'Hara sadly passed away on Saturday 29 May 2016 in hospital surrounded by his family. He will be missed by many, not least the members of the BCRPM.

Eddie became Chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles when Professor Anthnony Snodgrass retired in 2010. He described himself as 'an unreconstituted classicist and lifelong supporter of the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles'.

He was and will always be a great deal more than that. We will remember him for many aspects of his commitment to the cause but perhaps more importantly for his love and understanding of people.

Throughout his parliamentary career he tirelessly promoted the case for the Marbles to be returned to Athens, using various means including Early Day Motions, parliamentary questions, debates, meetings with ministers and the presentation of a Museums Bill, whose purpose was to remove any question as to whether museum trustees could divest themselves of objects in their collections. 

He spoke at conferences and was interviewed regularly, his passion for the Parthenon Mables never waned and his dedication to the campaign was steadfast. He was until Thursday of last week involved in organising the 07 June 'Commemorative Event for the Bicentenary' to mark 200 years from the date in 1816 when the British Parliament voted to purchase from Lord Elgin his collection of sculpted marbles collected from the Parthenon and elsewhere on the Athenian Acropolis.

"The British Museum has deployed a seductive argument against their return. They have argued that the British Museum is one of a small number of ‘encyclopaedic’ museums, such as the Louvre and the New York Metropolitan Museum, and that the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum form part of a wider narrative of the development of western art together with outside influences upon it.  They believe to return them would damage the integrity of this narrative. I disagree with these arguments and believes there are many other exemplars that the Greek Government could make available to replace the Marbles that wouldn’t damage the integrity of their narrative. " Commented Eddie O'Hara.

Eddie O’Hara also believed the British Museum overstates its case when it said that after two centuries in its collection the Marbles no longer play a part in any Greek narrative.

He added: “They should not put narratives in competition with each other but if they do surely the most important story to be told by and on behalf of the Marbles is that they form an integral unity with those in Athens, and together they form an integral unity with one of the most important historical monuments in the world.”

Eddie O’Hara also agreed with founder Eleni Cubitt,  that he would welcome a credible response to the argument for the return of the Marbles on the grounds of human rights. The Faro Convention proposes that for a cultural community to be deprived of enjoyment of its cultural heritage is a violation of its human rights.

“The Greeks are a cultural community as defined by the convention and the Marbles are part of the cultural heritage with which they identify.   Where there is a dispute good practice as defined by the convention includes measures to look at cooperation and reconciliation of these differences” concluded Eddie O’Hara.

Eddie O’Hara studied Literae Humaniores at Magdalen College, Oxford and had been Labour MP for Knowsley South for 20 years before retiring in 2010,  General Rapporteur for the Cultural Heritage and Museums Rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Trevor Timpson BBC News wrote in 2011: 'As a Labour MP from 1990 to 2010, Mr O'Hara was the "anchor man" for the BCRPM in Parliament.'

Heartfelt condolences from IOCARPM.

Tom Flynn:

I'm deeply saddened to receive the news of Eddie's death. A huge loss to his family and friends and to the UK Marbles campaign, which he has steered with such passion and erudition. A fellow Liverpudlian, he never missed an opportunity to rib me over Everton's erratic performance. I shall miss his gentle warmth and good humour.

Oliver Taplin:

Although I can take no personal credit, I have long felt proud that Magdalen Lit Hum should have produced someone of such energy and learning with such admirable views on many matters, including the Greeks in our times. A sad loss for our cause.

More articles including the BBC,  Guardian and ekathimerini