Persona

Pendlebury, John Devitt Stringfellow

1904-1941

British archaeologist and Cretan excavator; he was born in London, 12 October 1904, son of Herbert Stringfellow P., a surgeon, and Lilian Dorothea Devitt; he was educated at Winchester, 1918-23, and Pembroke College, Cambridge, 1923; Exhibitioner, Shoolbred and Beatson Scholar; BA, 1927; MA; FSA; FRSA; Cambridge University Student at the British School of Archaeology in Athens, 1927-8; Member of the Archaeological expedition of Macedonia, 1928; also excavated in Crete; married Hilda Winifred White, 1928; he joined the EES expeditions to Armant and El-Amarna, 1928-9, and then directed the Amarna expedition 1930-1; he was appointed Curator of Knossos in Crete, 1930-4, and was the successor of Sir Arthur Evans in this work; he spent the summer months working in Crete and continued the Amarna excavations until 1936; he later excavated at Mount Dikte and other sites in Crete until the war, 1936-9; British Vice-Consul, Candia, Crete, 1941; although his work was primarily in Crete and Minoan archaeology and history, Pendlebury did much important work at El-Amarna, clearing and re-examining the central city and the important government buildings, as well as excavating many houses; he was able with the help of R. Lavers, to reconstruct the layout and much of the plan of the great Aten temple and the main palace, and also locate the records office and other administrative areas; another important contribution was the classification and study of objects showing contacts and connections between the Aegean and Egypt; besides articles in journals he published, Aegyptiaca, a Catalogue of Egyptian objects in the Aegean Area, 1930; A Handbook to the Palace of Minos, 1933; The City of Akhenaten Il. The North Suburb and the Desert Altars, with H. Frankfort, 1933; The City of Akhenaten III. The Central City and Official Quarters, 2 parts, posth. with H. W. Fairman and others, 1951; Tell el Amarna, 1935; The Archaeology of Crete, 1939; in 1939 he joined the forces in Crete, Capt. 18th Infantry Brigade, and in May 1941 was severely wounded in action; he was looked after m a nearby house which was later entered by German paratroopers; he came from his bed to protect the lady of the house and, according to one version, was shot dead or alternatively he suffered a fatal internal haemorrhage in Kaminia near Heraklion, on or about 22 May 1941.

• Who Was Who in Egyptology (5th ed. 2019), 358 fig. (portrait).