Brian Benjamin Shefton, (born Bruno Benjamin Scheftelowitz; 11 August 1919 – 25 January 2012) was a German-born British classical archaeologist. He was the founder of the Shefton Museum, which bore his name.

Early life and education

Scheftelowitz was born on 11 August 1919 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany. He was the younger son of Isidor Isaac Scheftelowitz (1875–1934), a scholar and

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

, and Frieda Scheftelowitz (née Kohn; 1880–1971). Following the rise of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

, his father was sacked from his academic job at Cologne University; he had been Professor of Indo-Iranian

Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. Brian was being educated at :de:Apostelgymnasium, a Roman Catholic gymnasium in Cologne, until he had to leave. In 1933, his family emigrated from Germany for England to escape from the Nazis. For their first year in England, the Scheftelowitz family lived in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

, Kent, where his father taught at

Montefiore College Judith Lady Montefiore College () is a Jewish theological seminary founded in 1869 by Sir Moses Montefiore in memory of his late wife, Lady Judith Montefiore, at Ramsgate, Kent. Though closed in 1985, the College re-opened in London in 2005. Ea ...

, a Jewish theological seminary, and Brian was educated at St Lawrence College, an

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in the town. The

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

made a number of positions "to assist Jewish scholars exiled from Germany", and so the family moved to Oxford in 1934; his father had been offered "hospitality" by

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

and a lecturership in the Faculty of the Board of Oriental Languages and Literature. In Oxford, Brian was educated at Magdalen College School, then an all-boys independent school. His father died of kidney failure in December 1934, but the family remained in Oxford. Having won an open scholarship, he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

in 1938 to study '' Literae humaniores'' (i.e.

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

). In 1940, he achieved

second class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in " mods", the first part of the degree that consisted of the study of Latin and Ancient Greek. He went on to specialise in

Greek archaeology The archaeology of Greece includes artificial remains, geographical landscapes, architectural remains, and biofacts (artefacts that were once living organisms). The history of Greece as a country and region is believed to have begun roughly 1–2 ...

and among his lecturers were

Paul Jacobsthal Paul Jacobsthal (23 February 1880 in Berlin – 27 October 1957 in Oxford) was a scholar of Greek vase painting and Celtic art. He wrote his dissertation at the University of Bonn under the supervision of Georg Loeschcke. In 1912 he published ...

and

John Beazley Sir John Davidson Beazley (; 13 September 1885 – 6 May 1970) was a British classical archaeologist and art historian, known for his classification of Attic vases by artistic style. He was professor of classical archaeology and art at the U ...

. He resumed his university studied after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1947.

Second World War

In 1940, following the

fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, a large number of German and Austrian refugees in Britain were interned on the Isle of Man as "

enemy aliens In customary international law, an enemy alien is any alien native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secur ...

". Scheftelowitz was most likely not one of them, but his daughter would later claim that he was interned for a short period during the summer of 1940. However, in October of the same year, he interrupted his studies to serve in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He enlisted in the Pioneer Corps, which was the only British military unit in which enemy aliens could then serve. He trained at the Pioneer Corps centre in

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay towar ...

, Devon, alongside a variety of Jewish and other anti-Nazi professionals and intellectuals which would form the "most intellectualised unit of the British Army". He then served with the 249 (Alien) Company Pioneer Corps which was involved in military camp construction in Catterick, Yorkshire, and then in Scotland. Having anglicised his name to Brian Benjamin Shefton, he transferred to the

Army Educational Corps The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Gen ...

in November 1944, where he served until the end of the war.

Academic career

After graduation, Shefton joined the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA; ) is an institute for advanced research, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy, that promotes the study of Greece in all its aspects. Under UK law it is a reg ...

on a School Studentship in 1947. He would go on to receive a Derby Scholarship from the University Oxford a Bishop Fraser Scholarship from Oriel College, Oxford, thereby receiving funding for three years in Greece. He assisted on the British excavation at Old Smyrna in western Turkey, and studied the pottery (including

Attic red-figure Red-figure pottery () is a style of ancient Greek pottery in which the background of the pottery is painted black while the figures and details are left in the natural red or orange color of the clay. It developed in Athens around 520 BC and rem ...

and East Greek pottery) from the American excavation in the

Ancient Agora of Athens The ancient Agora of Athens (also called the Classical Agora) is an ancient Greek agora. It is located to the northwest of the Acropolis, and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios ...

Personal life

On 30 June 1947, Shefton swore the

Oath of Allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

and became a

naturalised citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of the United Kingdom.

References

1919 births 2012 deaths Classical archaeologists British archaeologists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Place of birth missing Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Cologne People educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Royal Pioneer Corps soldiers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom {{Classical-archaeologist-stub