Malcolm Hewitt Wiener, a distinguished archaeologist, businessman, and major benefactor of research on the Aegean region and ancient Greece, has passed away at the age of 91. The Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, emphasized that he was a “most rare combination” of a successful businessman, a selfless patron, and a profound scholar.

Wiener devoted more than five decades to the study, preservation, and promotion of ancient Greek civilization. He was the founder and president of the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), which supports archaeological research in the Aegean region from the Paleolithic Era through the 8th century B.C. Among other initiatives, he supports the Center for the Study of Eastern Crete and the Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, where he served as a member and chair of the Board of Directors. His contributions also include scholarships, grants, and funding for university chairs in the United States and Europe, from which hundreds of researchers have benefited.

He was a renowned scholar with significant publications on Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, the chronology of Egypt, the Near East, and the Aegean during the Bronze Age, as well as the rise, heyday, and collapse of ancient civilizations.

He has received honorary degrees from leading universities and academies and was awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of Honor of Greece. In 2013, he was awarded the Bandelier Award by the Archaeological Institute of America, and in 2017, he received the Athens Prize from the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

In her statement, Lina Mendoni mentioned, among other things:

“Wiener was not only a generous supporter of research, but was himself a distinguished archaeologist, with numerous important scholarly publications on the Aegean civilizations of the Bronze Age and their relationships with the civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. He was an exceptionally active and generous man, devoting a significant portion of his wealth to science.

Malcolm Wiener was awarded the highest honors of the Hellenic Republic and its institutions, which remained a symbolic token of appreciation for his long-standing and immeasurable contributions. To those of us who had the special honor and pleasure of knowing him and conversing with him, he left the impression of a true lover of Ancient Greece who served its legacy with devotion in many capacities, as well as that of an eloquent conversationalist. His immense loss does not bring his life’s work to an end; it will continue to bear fruit for a long time to come thanks to the strong roots he himself planted.”