Folarin Shyllon

'''Folarin Olawale Shyllon''' (23 July 1940 – 13 January 2021) was a lawyer recognised for his contributions to the history of black people in Britain and his work on cultural heritage law and protection of cultural heritage.

== Early life and education == Shyllon studied law at King's College London, receiving an LLB in 1966 and LLM in 1967.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Odinkalu |first=Chidi Anselm |date=17 January 2021 |title=Folarin Olawale Shyllon (23 July 1940-15 January 2021) |url=https://www.thecable.ng/folarin-olawale-shyllon-23-july-1940-15-january-2021/ |access-date=16 October 2024 |newspaper=TheCable}}</ref>

== Research and publications == Shyllon was the foundation dean at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan from 1983.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=February 2021 |title=Folarin Shyllon (1940–2021) |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-cultural-property/article/folarin-shyllon-19402021/49AA9DC36DFA938FD0A3F05BED272AD7 |journal=International Journal of Cultural Property |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |doi=10.1017/S0940739121000217 |issn=0940-7391}}</ref>

Notable works included ''Black Slaves in Britain'' (1974), which was praised by Asa Briggs, and ''Black People in Britain, 1555-1833'' (1977).<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kirk-Greene |first=A. H. M. |date=1979 |title=Review of Black People in Britain 1555-1833 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1158679 |journal=Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=188–189 |doi=10.2307/1158679 |issn=0001-9720|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Shyllon was committed to the protection of cultural heritage. He headed the committee of the National Archives of Nigeria and was a key figure in developing the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970) and the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (1995).<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 January 2021 |title=A tribute to the late Professor Folarin Olawale Shyllon, who fought for over 50 years against illicit trafficking of cultural property |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/tribute-late-professor-folarin-olawale-shyllon-who-fought-over-50-years-against-illicit-trafficking |access-date=16 October 2024 |website=UNESCO}}</ref> He was the author of two chapters in the ''Oxford Handbook on International Cultural Heritage Law'' (2020).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vrdoljak |first=Ana Filipa |date=2021-01-18 |title=In memoriam Folarin Olawale Shyllon (1940-2021) |url=https://internationalculturalheritagelaw.org/2021/01/in-memoriam-folarin-olawale-shyllon-1940-2021/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=UNESCO Chair on International Law and Cultural Heritage |language=en-AU}}</ref> Shyllon was a member of the International Cultural Property Society on the board of the ''International Journal of Cultural Property''.<ref name=":1" />

He actively campaigned for the recovery of looted artefacts, including the Benin Bronzes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nwauche |first=Enyinna S. |date=2021 |title=Restitution of Looted African Artefacts and the Legacy of Folarin Olawale Shyllon: A Reflection |url=https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=4062053 |journal=University of Ibadan Law Journal |language=en |volume=11 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.4062053 |issn=1556-5068 |via=SSRN Electronic Journal|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Later life == Shyllon retired from Ibadan in 2005. He was made Fellow of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University. In 2007, he became Dean at the Olabisi Onabanjo University. He was later on a Member of the Board of the Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria.<ref name=":0" />

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shyllon, Folarin}} Category:Nigerian legal scholars Category:Nigerian historians Category:1940 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Alumni of King's College London