“Amal Clooney should back off. Lord Elgin was a hero who saved the marbles for the world,” writes Dr Dominic Selwood, a former criminal barrister, novelist and historian, in an article published at the British newspaper “The Telegraph”.
Referring to the recent visit of Amal Alamuddin-Clooney in Greece in order to advice the Greek government on the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles, the historian says that her claim that Greece has “a just cause” to demand the return of the marbles is totally wrong.
“However, her assertion that Elgin took the marbles illegally is plain wrong, and flatly contradicts all serious histories of the marbles, as well as the reasoned findings of legal experts,” Selwood says.
If Elgin had not intervened, the Marbles would be a mere memory
'Any art lover who has read up the real story will know that the collection of marbles in the British Museum simply would not exist today without Elgin because they were being systematically destroyed in Athens. If Elgin had not intervened, they would be a mere memory,”, the historian claims.
The sculptures were being destroyed in Athens. Elgin sought proper permission from the government in Athens to remove them, the historian writes. “He funded the entire project himself, going bankrupt in the process”, he claims. When the British government purchased the marbles from him, they did so having satisfied themselves that Lord Elgin had acted properly in all regards”, he says.
Selwood further attacks the head of the law firm Ms Clooney works for, mr. Geoffrey Robertson. Robertson has said that the lawyer stated at media last week that Elgin “was a bankrupt. He used his diplomatic position to get a license to take the marbles and to profit personally by selling them to the British Museum. If he did that today, he would be in prison”. I hope Robertson has now fired his researchers, because that portrayal of Elgin will not last two minutes in a court,” he writes.
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