George Clooney’s timely call for return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece

George Clooney’s recent intervention for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures “to their original owner” couldn’t have come at a better time.

George Clooney first took a stance supporting the return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece in 2014. Source: Courtney/flickr - Justin Norris/flickr CC BY 2.0

Highlights

• Clooney makes comeback statement on the return of the Parthenon Marbles debate
• His comments were addressed to the chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles
• He first advocated for the cause publicly in 2014

The popular actor had voiced years ago his support to the repatriation demand.

But his newest statement, brought to light by Greek newspaper ‘Ta Nea’ has a strong impact attributed to its timing: a few days before the celebration of the Greek War of Independence bicentennial.

“The Parthenon Sculptures must be returned to their original owner,” Clooney told Janet Suzman, chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Earlier this year, he reportedly wrote to her saying: "There are a lot of historical artefacts that should be returned to their original owners, but none more important than the Parthenon Marbles.”

This marks his first public statement in support of their return, since his first one 7 years ago.

It was back in 2014 when Clooney’s declared stance on the issue would cause a dispute between him and Britain’s PM – then London Mayor – Boris Johnson.

As Clooney recently revealed, the incident had in fact helped him approach his future wife Amal Alamuddin, who he was secretly dating at the time.