Persona

Mond, (Sir) Robert Ludwig

1867-1938

British chemist and excavator; he was born in Farnworth, near Widnes, Lancs., 9 Sept. 1867, eldest son of Dr. Ludwig Mond, FRS, who was of German origin, and Frida Lowenthal; he was educated at Cheltenham and Peterhouse, Cambridge, also at the Universities of Zurich, Edinburgh, and Glasgow; he married firstly in 1898, Helen Edith Levis (who died in Luxor in 1905), and secondly in London, 6 Dec. 1922 Marie Louise Le Manach (born in Belle-Isle-en-Terre 5 Feb. 1869, died there 21 Nov. 1949); Director of the Mond Cos.; of his services and contributions to chemistry and other branches of science, accounts will be found elsewhere; for many years his chief recreation was Egyptian archaeology and he frequently visited Egypt from 1901 onwards; in 1902 he began work on clearing and recording Theban tombs, discovering several new ones; he personally supervised the work, 1902-5 and 1923-6; in this effort he had the assistance of Newberry, Carter, E. J. Mackay, Emery, Frankfort, F. W. Green, Weigall, Yeivin and others; he defrayed the cost of repairing, restoring and safeguarding many tombs and other monuments in Egypt including the tomb of Seti I, and was a generous supporter of many archaeological expeditions in Egypt, and elsewhere; those of the EES, of Garstang in Meroe and in Asia Minor, of the Liverpool Inst. of Archaeology, of Miss Garrod at Athlit and Lydda and of H. Winkler in the Eastern and Libyan deserts; in 1926 he ceased working at Thebes and transferred his activities to Armant, in 1929 handing over the concession to the EES when he was elected President that year; he was also Treasurer of the Palestine Exploration Fund and of the British School of Archaeology in Palestine; he defrayed the cost of many archaeological publications, and presented many antiquities to museums, bequeathing his collections to the British Museum and assisting with the purchase of Petrie's collection by University College London; he was also a great benefactor of the Royal Institution, of the British Institute in Paris, and of many other scientific and cultural bodies; LL.D.; FRSE.; FRS; knighted 1932; a large collection of his notes, photographs, and other material relating to the Theban tombs is now in the Griffith Inst., Oxford; he died in Paris, 22 Oct. 1938.

• Who Was Who in Egyptology (4th ed. 2012), 379-80 fig. (portrait).