John Forsdyke

Sir Edgar John Forsdyke KCB (12 September 1883 – 3 December 1979) was Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum from 1936 to 1950. He was director of the British Museum during the controversial 1937-38 "cleaning" of the Parthenon Marbles,[1] which caused irreparable damage to the sculptures.[2]

Forsdyke was educated at Christ's Hospital and then at Keble College, Oxford, where he was a scholar.[3] He joined the British Museum in 1907, before serving in the Royal Field Artillery as a captain between 1914-19, in the First World War. He edited the Journal of Hellenic Studies from 1912 to 1923.

After serving as Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum from 1932 to 1936, he was appointed Director and Principal Librarian in 1936, retiring in 1950.[4] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1937, and was an Honorary Fellow of Keble College. He died on 3 December 1979.[3]

References
  1. Oddy, Andrew, "The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975", in Studies in Conservation, vol. 47, no.3, (2002), p. 149
  2. British damage to Elgin marbles 'irreparable' Archived 5 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian.
  3. "Forsdyke, Sir (Edgar) John", Who Was Who 1920–2008, Oxford University Press, December 2007, retrieved 7 October 2009
  4. "oil painting". British Museum. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
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