Ittai Gradel, the Danish antiquities dealer whose persistence exposed one of the most serious institutional failures in the British Museum’s history, has died of renal cancer in a Danish hospice. He was 61. The timing of his death carries its own particular sadness. He died just days after the museum presented him with a rare medal in recognition of his role in recovering more than 360 stolen artefacts, a belated acknowledgement from an institution that had spent two years ignoring the warnings he had tried to press upon it.
Gradel, who uncovered internal thefts at the BM, began with an unlikely discovery. While browsing eBay in 2021, he noticed items from the museum’s Greek and Roman collections offered for sale at nominal prices. He recognised what he was looking at, purchased more than 360 of the objects, and alerted both the museum and Scotland Yard. The museum’s initial response, by Gradel’s account, was deeply inadequate. Despite the evidence he provided, including a PayPal receipt linked to a senior curator, his warnings were effectively set aside for two years. It was only after sustained pressure from Gradel that the museum formally reported the crimes, and a full police investigation was launched. That investigation remains ongoing.
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