Amal Clooney Advises Greece on Legal Bid for British Museum's Elgin Marbles
- October 15, 2014 12:53
Actor George Clooney's new bride, Amal Alamuddin Clooney is going to bat for Greece in a quest to return the famed 2,000-year-old Elgin Marbles at the British Museum to their homeland. Mrs. Clooney met with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens on Wed. and Culture Minister Costas Tassoulas earlier in the week. She also toured the Acropolis Museum.
Just weeks after her splashy wedding to the Hollywood lead man in Venice, Amal Clooney, 36, has gotten into high-profile talks with government authorities about a potential legal bid to reunite the Parthenon's famous frieze. She is a human rights lawyer with London’s Doughty Street chambers, specializing in international law, extradition and criminal law.
Among the British Museum's most prized possessions, the 5th-century BC Parthenon relics were bought for the museum's collection after the 7th Earl of Elgin, Thomas Bruce, stripped them from the Acropolis in Athens where the marble sculptures were ancient residents. The Scottish nobleman had served as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803, and he said Greece's Turkish occupiers gave him permission to remove the sculptures. Greece has sought their return ever since.
The Greek government may need to relinquish its claim on the Elgin Marbles for their return to transpire. One option the Greeks may be weighing is a long-term loan from Britain.
