Ernest Arthur Gardner

Ernest Arthur Gardner (16 March 1862 – 27 November 1939) was an English archaeologist. He was the director of the British School at Athens between 1887 and 1895.

Early life

Gardner was born in Clapton, London, England on 16 March 1862 to Thomas Gardner and Ann Pearse. He was educated at the City of London School, a boys' private day school located in the City of London. He entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1880. He read for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Classics and graduated with a double first in 1884.

Early academic career

Gardner became a fellow of Gonville and Caius College in 1885. In 1885 and 1886, as part of the Egypt Exploration Society, he was involved in the excavations at Naucratis, Egypt. He became a student of the British School at Athens under Francis Penrose in 1886. From 1887 to 1895 he was director of the school. During his first term as director, he led excavations at Old Paphos and Salamis in Cyprus. When his directorship was extended in 1891, he led an excavation in Megalopolis, Greece.

After resigning from the British School at Athens in 1895, he took up the position of Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of London in 1896, and held that position until 1929. He became editor of The Journal of Hellenic Studies in 1897. He was dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of London from 1905 to 1909 and again from 1913 to 1915. He was elected as the first Public Orator of London University in 1910.

Military service

At the outbreak of World War I, Gardner was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a lieutenant commander. He served as a naval intelligence officer at Salonika, Greece from 1915 to 1917. While based there, he organised the removal of the area's archaeological remains to the protection of the White Tower of Thessaloniki. For this action, he was awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of the Redeemer in 1918 by the Greeks. In late 1917 he returned to England and joined the Admiralty. He continued his service in naval intelligence until early 1919.