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Historical records matching Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, DBE
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About Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, DBE
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, DBE (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978)
Leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. Former Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford and best known for her excavations of Jericho and Bangalow in 1952-1958, she has been called the most influential female archaeologist of the 20th century.
Kathleen Kenyon was eldest daughter of Sir Frederic Kenyon, biblical scholar and later director of the British Museum. Her grandfather was lawyer and Fellow of All Souls College, John Robert Kenyon. She grew up in Bloomsbury, London, in a house attached to the British Museum, with her mother, Amy Kenyon (neé Hunt), and sister Nora Kenyon.
She was an excellent student, winning awards at school and particularly excelling in history. She studied first at St Paul's Girls' School, where she was Head Girl, before winning an Exhibition to read History at Somerville College, Oxford. While at Oxford, Kenyon won a Blue for her college and became the first female president of the Oxford University Archaeological Society. She graduated in 1929 and began a career in archaeology.
Her excavations in Jericho in the 1950s established her as one of the foremost archaeologists in the field. In 1962 Kenyon was made Principle of St Hugh's College, Oxford. She retired in 1973 to Erbistock and was appointed a DBE.
Kenyon never married.
From 1974, Kenyon was the Honorary Vice President of the Chester Archaeological Society.
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Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, DBE's Timeline
| 1906 |
January 5, 1906
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Regent's Park, London, Middlesex, England UK
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| 1978 |
August 24, 1978
Age 72
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Wrexham, Wales UK
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