Series RP/1 - Correspondence

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 RP-RP/1

Title

Correspondence

Date(s)

  • 1978-1985 (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

Nineteen files

Context area

Name of creator

(3 December 1927 – 16 February 2017)

Biographical history

Richard Pankhurst (1927-2017), was a historian and founding member of the Institute of Ethiopic Studies. Pankhurst’s mother was the suffragette and anti-fascist Sylvia Pankhurst and his grandparents were Emmeline and Richard Pankhurst. It was through his mother’s protests concerning the Italian invasion of Ethiopia that he first became interested in the country. Growing up he met many Ethiopian refugees in London. Pankhurst studied economic history at the London School of Economics and in 1956 he went to Ethiopia to teach at the University College of Addis Ababa, subsequently becoming the founder and director of the Institute of Ethiopic Studies.

In 1976, after the death of Haile Selassie and the start of the Ethiopian Civil War, Pankhurst returned to England, teaching at SOAS and LSE but, in 1978, he became the Librarian at the Royal Asiatic Society, a position he kept for several years before returning to Ethiopia in 1987 and resuming his work at the Institute. He published numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics related to Ethiopian history.

Pankhurst led the campaign for the return of the Obelisk of Axum to Ethiopia. It was re-erected in Axum in 2008. He was given an OBE in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas section of the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was married to Rita (née Eldon) Pankhurst and had two children, Helen and Alula.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Correspondence mainly addressed to Richard Pankhurst concerned with his interest and research in Ethiopia.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • Italian

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Physical characteristics and technical requirements

    Finding aids

    Allied materials area

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Related descriptions

    Notes area

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Access points

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Genre access points

    Description control area

    Description identifier

    gb891 rp/1

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Status

    Level of detail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Accession area