Professor George Huxley, who became known in Kythera from the first organized excavations on the island, in Paleopolis, died on 30 November 2022 in England. After the news of his death the association «Friends of Kythera Museums» made the following announcement:
«It is with great sadness that we announce that our dear friend, mentor and devoted member of our Association, Professor George Leonard Huxley passed away peacefully at his home in Oxfordshire, England, on 30 November 2022.
The funeral service will be celebrated on Wednesday, December 14 at 11:00 am at St. Kenelm's Church, Church Enstone, Oxfordshire.
The Friends of Kythera Museums plan in the near future to honour the memory of this exceptional scientist who carried out the first organised excavations in Kythera in Paleopolis.
Professor Huxley will be remembered with great nostalgia not only for the great scientific legacy he left on the island, but also for his warmth, humour, kindness, generosity and above all for his love for the Kytherian community.
The Board of Directors»
Who was George Leonard Huxley
George Leonard Huxley was an internationally renowned philologist. He was born on 23 September 1932. He attended Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied Classics. From 1955 to 1961 he was a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. In 1956 he was appointed Deputy Director of the British School in Athens. He was twice a visiting lecturer at Harvard University (1958-59 and 1961-1962).
George L. Huxley taught for twenty years at Queen's University, Belfast, as Professor of Greek (1962-1983). He was a member of many distinguished committees and societies throughout his career. In 1984 Professor Huxley served as Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 8th International Congress of Classical Studies in Dublin; in 1984 he was also elected Senior Vice President of the Federation Internationale des Societes of d'Etudes Classiques. From 1986 to 1989, Professor Huxley served as Director of the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. He became Honorary Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin in 1989 and in 1999 was appointed Honorary Professor of the Classical Association of Ireland. In 2003 Professor Huxley was the keynote speaker at the 16th International Conference on Classical Archaeology in Boston. Finally, Huxley co-organised, with Nicolas Coldstream, the Kythera Excavation Project.
A prolific author, he edited and published the following books, in addition to hundreds of articles: Achaeans and the Hittites (1960), The Early Ionians (1966), Greek Epic Poetry from Eumelos to Panyassis, Kythera, Excavations and Studies with J.N.Coldstream (1972), Pindar's vision of the Past (1975), On Aristotle and Greek Society (1979), Homer and the Travellers (1988). He had been married to Davina Best since 1957, and together they had three daughters.
