Dr Ittai Gradel, the academic turned antiquities dealer who exposed the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum, has died aged 61. He passed away from renal cancer days after receiving a rarely presented medal from the museum in recognition of his contribution.
Exposure of thefts
Gradel first alerted the British Museum and the police in 2021 after he was able to purchase dozens of museum artefacts on eBay over several years. He had tried to persuade the museum to investigate when he initially suspected gems from the collection were being sold online for as little as a few pounds each. The museum initially dismissed his concerns, with then deputy director Jonathan Williams writing to Gradel that all objects were accounted for. However, it later emerged that the thief had allegedly faked a handwritten note claiming a particular gemstone had been stolen in 1963.
Museum response and aftermath
Two years after Gradel's warnings, the museum announced that about 2,000 items, mainly classical gems and gold jewellery from the ancient Mediterranean area, were stolen, missing, or damaged. The scandal led to the resignation of then director Hartwig Fischer, who admitted the museum did not respond comprehensively to Gradel's earlier alerts. Gradel had accused the museum of stonewalling and sweeping the matter under the carpet.
Gradel reported that he and other dealers had unintentionally bought items online that came from the museum's collection. He suspected senior curator Peter Higgs, an expert in Greek antiquities, of stealing and provided a PayPal receipt with Higgs's name. Higgs, who worked at the museum for 30 years before being sacked, denies any wrongdoing. A police investigation remains ongoing more than three years after the museum reported the thefts to Scotland Yard following pressure from Gradel.
Recognition and legacy
Before his death in a Danish hospice, Gradel told the BBC it was “a bit annoying” he would not live to see the case resolved. He had been a key potential witness. The museum's director, Nicholas Cullinan, awarded Gradel the British Museum medal, writing that it was “a sign of our esteem … in recognition of your expertise and of your passionate determination that wrongs should be righted”.
Gradel was born in 1965 in Haifa, Israel, to a British father and a Danish mother, and moved to Denmark at age two. He moved to the UK at 18 and fell in love with the British Museum. His cancer was first diagnosed in 2010 and returned in 2022. He said he knew he “had to get this finished before I was on my deathbed”. He added: “I didn’t do the museum a favour by revealing these thefts, because it did damage to the institution. But I had no choice. However, I did the museum a huge favour in assisting it in getting a new and better management.”
In total, Gradel signed more than 360 items back to the British Museum that he had purchased online. The museum has since announced plans to digitise its collection.
