The British Museum has welcomed a new slate of trustees, including Dr. Tiffany Jenkins, an academic and author staunchly opposed to returning stolen antiquities like the Parthenon Marbles.
Jenkins, who penned Keeping Their Marbles, will serve a four-year term with broadcaster Claudia Winkleman, Conservative peer Lord Finkelstein, historian Tom Holland, and former BBC news anchor Martha Kearney. The board, chaired by ex-Chancellor George Osborne, oversees one of the world’s most prominent cultural institutions.
Jenkins’ appointment reignites debate over the Parthenon Marbles—ancient Greek sculptures removed from the Acropolis in Athens between 1801 and 1815 by Lord Elgin, then British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Elgin claimed permission to take them, though no evidence supports this, and the marble landed at the British Museum in 1816. Since the 1980s, Greece has contested their ownership, a fight Jenkins argues against in her book, asserting that such artifacts belong in museums where they’ve been preserved.
Her stance clashes with voices like Dr. Alice Roberts, a historian and broadcaster who recently met Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni while filming a Channel 4 series on Ancient Greece. “They belong back in Athens,” Roberts told Radio Times this month. “Imagine if another country had chunks of Stonehenge and wouldn’t return them. But it’s deeper than that—acknowledging colonial wrongs.”
Greece’s push intensified last month with the election of President Constantine Tassoulas, a former culture minister and vocal advocate for the marbles’ return. The narrative has shifted from ownership to “reunification,” with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis suggesting art can reside abroad without losing its essence. Yet in 2023, then-UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dodged the issue by canceling a meeting with Mitsotakis at the last minute.
Jenkins, an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh, was praised by Claire Fox of the Academy of Ideas, a think tank known for tackling thorny issues. Author Timandra Harkness also hailed her focus on “protecting history” over external battles.
The Parthenon Marbles debate rolls on, with Jenkins’ voice now at the table—ensuring the museum’s stance won’t shift quietly.