The leader of the British campaign to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, Eddie O’Hara, passed way at the age of 78. He became chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) in 2010. The BCRPM formed in 1983, supports Greek demands for the London sculptures’ return. Eddie O’ Hara campaigned tireless for the Marbles to be returned to Athens.
He will be remembered for his “commitment to the cause”, campaigners told BBC and a BCRPM spokesperson said he would be “missed by many”.
In an interview for the BBC News website on taking up the appointment as chair of BCRPM, Mr O’Hara strongly advocated the unification of the Parthenon sculptures held in London and Greece, in the gallery devoted to them in Athens’ new Acropolis Museum.
“There is only one place on earth where you can have a simultaneous visual and aesthetic experience of the Parthenon and the sculptures, and that’s in that gallery,” he said.
Last year he penned a strong response to the British Museum’s claim that the sculptures are a “significant part” of the Museum’s “story of cultural achievement throughout the world”.
“The price of this is the compromise of the integrity of a pre-eminent work of art.” Mr O’Hara stressed.
He was the former Merseyside MP and university lecturer and had studied Classics at Oxford University. Earlier in his career he taught Latin and brought his classes to life by translating Beatles lyrics.