Greece demands return of antiquities after British Museum thefts
Greece has renewed calls for the UK to return its iconic Parthenon Marbles that were removed from Athens in the 19th century, after the news last week that the British Museum had fired an employee for allegedly stealing over 2,000 valuable pieces and selling them.
Athens has for decades called for the return of important and precious historical artifacts that were removed from its archeological sites by British collectors in the 18th and 19th centuries, most famously, the so-called Elgin Marbles, after the British Lord Elgin who took them from the Acropolis. Britain has refused to return the sculptures, citing legal obstructions.
“We want to tell the British Museum that they cannot any more say that Greek cultural heritage is more protected” than it is in Greece, Despina Koutsoumba, director of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, told the BBC on Wednesday.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni agreed that the theft “reinforces the permanent and fair demand of our country for the definitive return and reunification” of the [sic] sculptures.
Tim Loughton, chair of the all-parliamentary group on the British Museum, bristled at what he called the “blatant opportunism” of the Greeks. “It’s incredibly rare that things go missing,” he told the BBC, arguing that the thefts were not “the heist of the Mona Lisa.”
The museum admitted last week that a large number of items from its catalogue were missing, stolen, or damaged and that it had fired a senior curator and Greek expert, Peter Higgs, who had worked in the role for 30 years.
Police have apparently been investigating the thefts but have not made any arrests, while the museum is reportedly taking legal action.
It also emerged that the British Museum had been warned of a problem in 2021 by an art dealer. Ittai Gradel allegedly bought about 70 antiques he recognized from the institution’s catalog on eBay, starting in 2014. He resold them for much higher amounts before tipping off the museum, returning some of the items, and sending investigators after his buyers.
However, Gradel's concerns were brushed aside by the museum's deputy director, Jonathan Williams, who insisted there was “no suggestion of any wrongdoing,” and claimed the “collection was protected.”
He had called for Williams and museum director Hartwig Fischer to be fired.
Fischer, who announced his resignation last month, claimed Gradel had been less than forthcoming about his purchases, explaining that it was only after the museum began a full audit of its collection, a full year after the dealer’s warning, that staff realized there was a problem.
The museum has still not revealed the extent of the losses, but media reports suggest as many as 2,000 items are missing, potentially worth millions.
Fischer made headlines in 2019 for declaring that Elgin’s removal of the marbles from Athens was a “creative act” and that they would not be returned. Greece has long been fighting in and out of courts to regain the priceless artifacts.
