Bettany Hughes

OBE FSA
Filming of Britain's Secret Treasures at the British Museum, 2013
BornMay 1967 (age 56)
Oxford, England, UK
NationalityBritish
EducationNotting Hill and Ealing High School
Alma materSt Hilda's College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Broadcaster and writer
Known forTelevision history; radio broadcasting; author
SpouseAdrian Evans
Children2
Parent(s)Peter Hughes, Erica Hughes
RelativesSimon Hughes (brother)
Websitebettanyhughes.co.uk

Bettany Mary Hughes OBE FSA (born May 1967)[1][2] is an English historian, author and broadcaster, specialising in classical history. Her published books cover classical antiquity and myth, and the history of Istanbul. She is active in efforts to encourage the teaching of the classics in UK state schools. Hughes was appointed OBE in 2019.

Early life and education

Hughes grew up in West London.[3] She is the daughter of actors Peter and Erica Hughes, and the sister of the cricketer and journalist Simon Hughes.[4] She was educated at Notting Hill and Ealing High School in Ealing, and at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she graduated with a degree in ancient and modern history.[5]

She has an honorary doctorate from the University of York.[6]

Career

Bettany Hughes speaking with Ralph Jackson (Curator of Romano-British Collections at the British Museum) during filming of Britain's Secret Treasures at the British Museum

She is a visiting research fellow at King's College London, formerly a tutor for Cambridge University's Institute of Continuing Education,[7][8] and an honorary fellow at Cardiff University.

Hughes has written and presented many documentary films and series on both ancient and modern subjects. In 2009, she was awarded the Naomi Sargant Special Award for excellence in educational broadcasting,[9] and in 2012 she was awarded the Norton Medlicott Award for services to history by the Historical Association, of which she is an honorary fellow.[10]

In 2010, she gave the Hellenic Institute's Tenth Annual lecture "Ta Erotika: The Things of Love";[11] in 2011, Hughes gave the Royal Television Society's Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture, in which she argued that history on television is thriving and enjoying a new golden age.[12] In 2011, she chaired the Orange Prize for Fiction,[13] the UK's only annual book award for fiction written by women.[14]

Hughes is a patron of The Iris Project, a charity that promotes the teaching of Latin and Greek in UK state schools.[15][16] She is an honorary patron of Classics For All, a national campaign to get classical languages and the study of ancient civilisations back into state schools.[17] She is an advisor to the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation which aims to foster large-scale collaborative projects between East and West.[18]

In 2014, she was made a Distinguished Friend of the University of Oxford.[19]

Hughes is a Vice President of the National Churches Trust.[20]

She was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) on 3 March 2017.[21] She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to history.[22]

Personal life

Hughes is married to Adrian Evans, events director and producer, who was pageant master for the Diamond and Platinum Jubilees; the couple have two daughters Sorrel and May.[23][24][25]

Hughes is a vegetarian.[26] In 2016, she delivered the British Humanist Association's annual Voltaire Lecture.[27]

Recognition

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.[28]

Books

Hughes has written five books:

The Hemlock Cup was included in The New York Times Bestseller List. It was chosen as Book of the Year by The Daily Telegraph,[34] and it was featured as a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4.[35] It was shortlisted for a Writer's Guild Award.[36]

Istanbul was reviewed by The New York Review of Books[37] and was shortlisted for the Runciman Award in 2018.[38]

Venus and Aphrodite was shortlisted in 2021 for the Runciman Award.[39]

Other writings

  • "Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore" – European Cultural Centre of Delphi, XIII International Meeting On Ancient Drama 2007, The Women in Ancient Drama, Symposium Proceedings
  • "'Terrible, Excruciating, Wrong-Headed And Ineffectual': The Perils and Pleasures of Presenting Antiquity to a Television Audience" – Dunstan Lowe, Kim Shahabudin (ed.), Classics for All: Reworking Antiquity in Mass Culture. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1443801201

Credits

Television programmes

Year Title Channel Notes
2002The SpartansChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2003The First Age 6000 BC – 1000 BCChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2003The Second Age 1000 BC – 43 ADChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2003The Third Age 43 AD – 410 ADChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2003The Fourth Age 410 AD – 1066 ADChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2003The Fifth Age 1066 AD – 1350 ADChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2003The Sixth Age 1350 AD – 1530 ADChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2003The Seventh Age 1530 AD – 1700 ADChannel 4Part of Seven Ages of Britain (2003 TV series) documentary series
2004The MinoansChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2005When the Moors Ruled in EuropeChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2005Helen of TroyChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2007Athens: The Truth about DemocracyChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2008Engineering Ancient EgyptChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2009OnslaughtHistory ChannelPart of The Roman Invasion of Britain documentary series
2009RevoltHistory ChannelPart of The Roman Invasion of Britain documentary series
2009DominionHistory ChannelPart of The Roman Invasion of Britain documentary series
2010Alexandria: The Greatest CityChannel 4Part of The Ancient World documentary series
2010Atlantis: The Evidence BBC2
2010The Day Jesus DiedBBC1
2010The Daughters Of EveChannel 4Part of The Bible: A History (TV series)
2010What's The Point Of Forgiveness?BBC1
2011Seven Wonders of the Buddhist WorldBBC2
2012Divine WomenBBC2
2012–2013Britain's Secret TreasuresITVCo-presented with Michael Buerk
2013Britain's Secret HomesITVCo-presented with Michael Buerk
2015Genius of the Ancient WorldBBC4
2016Genius of the Modern WorldBBC4
2017Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of LoveBBC4
2017Eight Days That Made RomeChannel 5
2018Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of EcstasyBBC4
2019Mars Uncovered: Ancient God of WarBBC4
2019The Nile: Egypt's Great RiverChannel 5
2019Egypt's Great TreasuresChannel 5
2020A Greek OdysseyChannel 5
2020Secrets of Pompeii's Greatest TreasuresChannel 5
2021Egypt's Great Mummies: Unwrapped with Bettany HughesChannel 5Also known as Top Ten Treasures: Egyptian Mummies[40]
2021, 2023Bettany Hughes Treasures of the WorldChannel 4Two series[41]
2021Pompeii: Secrets of the DeadChannel 5One-off documentary[42]
2022From Paris to Rome with Bettany HughesChannel 5Travel series[43]
2023Exploring India's Treasures with Bettany HughesChannel 4Two-part documentary[44]

References

  1. ↑ "Bettany Hughes". British Council. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Bettany Mary Hughes". Companies House. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "About Bettany". bettanyhughes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Harris, Samela (8 March 2006). "Festival & fringe". The Advertiser (Adelaide, Australia). p. 44. ProQuest 355303076.
  5. ↑ "Bettany Hughes". st-hildas.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "University awards five honorary degrees". york.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Tutor a to Z".
  8. ↑ "Bettany Hughes - Curriculum Vitae". Academia.edu. 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "VLV Awards 2009". vlv.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  10. ↑ "The HA honours Bettany Hughes for services to History: Medlicott Medal 2012". HA News. The Historical Association. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "7 February 2011: Tenth Annual Hellenic Institute Lecture". News and Events. Royal Holloway, University of London: The Hellenic Institute. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "Huw Wheldon Lecture 2011 with Bettany Hughes: TV – Modern Father of History". Royal Television Society Lecture. BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2011 JUDGES ANNOUNCED". Orange Prize. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "History of the prize". womensprizeforfiction.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "The Iris Project - Classics in Schools and Communities". Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  16. ↑ "Iris Project History". The Iris Project. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "Supporters". classicsforall.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "Aims & Mission". fstc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Dr Bettany Hughes becomes a Distinguished Friend of Oxford". Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  20. ↑ "Interview with Bettany Hughes: Strange but familiar". The Church Times. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Prof Bettany Hughes". Society of Antiquaries of London. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  22. ↑ "No. 62666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 2019. p. B12.
  23. ↑ "My perfect weekend: Bettany Hughes, historian". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  24. ↑ Hassell, Katherine (25 February 2023). "Bettany Hughes: 'I end up in tombs all the time, but I'm scared of the dark and claustrophobic'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  25. ↑ Stanford, Peter (28 May 2022). "Adrian Evans, Jubilee pageant master: 'We considered making a Queen hologram like ABBA'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  26. ↑ Silverman, Rosa (20 October 2017). "Bettany Hughes on how the 'snowflake generation' may have cracked the work-life balance". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  27. ↑ British Humanist Association (25 May 2016), The Voltaire Lecture 2016, with Bettany Hughes | Socrates, Confucius, and the Buddha, retrieved 8 June 2016
  28. ↑ "100 Women: Who took part?". BBC News. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  29. ↑ "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  30. ↑ "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  31. ↑ "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  32. ↑ "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  33. ↑ Hughes, Kathryn (5 January 2024). "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes review – wonder lust". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  34. ↑ "Books of the Year for Christmas: History". The Daily Telegraph. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  35. ↑ "Book of the Week: The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life". Book of the Week. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  36. ↑ "Writer's Guild Awards 2011". writersguild.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  37. ↑ Hansen, Suzy (22 February 2018). "Istanbul Blues". The New York Review of Books.
  38. ↑ "An Interview with Bettany Hughes". runcimanaward.org. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  39. ↑ "Seven Magnificent Books". anglohellenicleague.org. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  40. ↑ "Top Ten Treasures: Egyptian Mummies". dcdrights.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  41. ↑ "Bettany Hughes Treasures of the World". channel4.com. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  42. ↑ "Pompeii: Secrets of the Dead". radiotimes.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  43. ↑ "From Paris to Rome with Bettany Hughes". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  44. ↑ "Exploring India's Treasures with Bettany Hughes: release date, destinations and everything we know". yahoo.com/entertainment. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
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