Charles K. Williams II (1930-2026)
The British School at Athens is deeply saddened by the death of Charles K. Williams II, a longstanding friend and collaborator, as well as generous supporter of the BSA. Charles Williams’s connection with the BSA goes back to the beginning of his archaeological career, when, as a young architect in the 1950s, he worked with Alan Wace at the BSA excavations at Mycenae.
That enduring relationship with the BSA lasted throughout his life, including during his many decades as Director of the Corinth Excavations. In recognition of his exceptional support for the BSA, he also served as one of its Vice-Presidents. It was particularly through the Fitch Laboratory that Charles Williams maintained a close and deeply valued connection with the BSA. His friendship with the Laboratory and its people was matched by an extraordinary commitment to its work. Over many years, his support helped transform the Fitch’s capacity for archaeological science: from the provision of its first petrographic microscope to major analytical equipment for elemental analysis and from the endowment of the Williams Fellowship in Ceramic Petrology to his contribution to the Myrto
Georgakopoulou Research Award. His benefactions sustained research, training and generations of early-career scholars.
The intellectual legacy of this relationship is equally important. Collaboration between Corinth and the Fitch produced major work on transport amphorae and on Corinth’s connections across the Mediterranean and beyond, while Charles Williams’s wider support for ceramic analysis helped advance the scientific study of pottery as a means of understanding past societies.
Above all, Charles Williams was a very special person: a loyal friend of the BSA, whose generosity, intellectual curiosity and quiet encouragement will be remembered with enormous affection and gratitude. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and all those whose lives and work he touched.
Written by Dr Evangelia Kiriatzi