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It is with great sadness that the College notes the death of Professor Colin Renfrew, Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn. He was an Honorary Fellow, an Emeritus Fellow, and a former Master of the College.

Professor Lord Colin Renfrew read Natural Sciences, Archaeology and Anthropology at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 1962. He completed his PhD thesis at Cambridge in 1965 and began his career first as a lecturer at the University of Sheffield and then as Professor of Archaeology at the University of Southampton. In 1981, he became the tenth Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, and he was appointed the founding Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in 1990.

Throughout his career, Professor Lord Colin Renfrew published numerous influential books, including Before Civilization: The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe (1973) and Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of the Indo-European Origins (1987). He was recognised for his pioneering archaeological work through several prestigious awards, including the Bandelier Award by the Archaeological Institute of America for his lifetime service to Archaeology; the International Balzan Prize which funded his excavations on Keros; and the European Science Foundation Latsis Prize for outstanding contributions to his field. In 2023, he was awarded the inaugural prize for Outstanding Contribution to Archaeological Theory by the Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), who deemed him the most prolific and wide-ranging archaeological theorist of the last five decades.

Professor Lord Colin Renfrew served as Master of �������� from 1986 until 1997. A highlight of his Mastership was the opening of the Quincentenary Library by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996. In an account of the visit written for the College’s Annual Report, he remarked that the Queen “wore scarlet which matched the red of the College’s red-and-black”.

He brought his love for contemporary art to the College, founding the Sculpture in the Close exhibition series in 1988. Emeritus Fellow Professor Rod Mengham noted that: “Under his leadership it grew from relatively modest beginnings presenting the work of British sculptors to a College-wide showcase for installations of work by a truly international range of artists.” Professor Lord Colin Renfrew continued as chairman of the Works of Art committee until 2017 and remained active in this area; the photo above shows him with Sir Antony Gormley earlier this year. 

After his retirement in 2004, Professor Lord Colin Renfrew continued his archaeological work, remaining a Senior Fellow at the McDonald Institute and directing excavations on the Cycladic Island of Keros. From 1991 he was also a working peer in the House of Lords, where he spoke up for matters of heritage and archaeological legislation.