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. Under his tenure, an attempt was made to clean the Elgin Marbles in 1937, which lasted until 1938 and resulted in damage to the collection due to the "misguided efforts" of the restoration team to whitewash certain marbles under the belief they were originally white in colour.

Early life Forsdyke was born in Bermondsey, London on 12 September 1883 to and Mary Eliza (nee Sainsbury) and Frederick Palmer Forsdyke. His father was a commercial traveller. He won a place at Watford Grammar and then a scholarship to Christ's Hospital in Hereford and then another scholarship which allowed him to attend Keble College, Oxford where he studied the classics.

Career He joined the British Museum as an Assistant Keeper in 1907. Forsdyke contributed to Arthur Evans' work Palace of Minos at Knossos.

He died on 3 December 1979 at home of bronchitis exacerbated by heart disease.

Honours He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1937, and was an Honorary Fellow of Keble College.

Personal life In 1910 at the age of 26 he married 42 year old widow Frances Beatrice Mumford Gifford. She died in 1938. The couple had no children.

He married concert violinist Anna Amadea Leonie Dea Gombrich (1905-1994), the sister of art historian Ernst Gombrich in 1942. The couple had two daughters when Forsdyke was in his sixties.