# Nicolas Coldstream

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{{short description|English archaeologist and academic}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox academic
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| name               = Nicolas Coldstream
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| alma_mater         = [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge)
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| discipline         = [Archaeology](/source/Archaeology)
| sub_discipline     = {{hlist|[Classical archaeology](/source/Classical_archaeology)|[Ancient Greece](/source/Ancient_Greece)|[Geometric Period](/source/Geometric_Period)|[Ancient Greek pottery](/source/Ancient_Greek_pottery)}}
| workplaces         = {{plain list|
* [Shrewsbury School](/source/Shrewsbury_School)
* [British Museum](/source/British_Museum)
* [British School at Athens](/source/British_School_at_Athens)
* [Bedford College](/source/Bedford_College%2C_London), [University of London](/source/University_of_London)
* [University College London](/source/University_College_London) }}
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'''John Nicolas Coldstream''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|commas=on|FBA|FSA|size=100%}}, (30 March 1927 – 21 March 2008) was an English [archaeologist](/source/archaeologist) and academic specialising in the [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greece) pottery of the [Geometric Period](/source/Geometric_Period). He lectured at [Bedford College](/source/Bedford_College_(London)), rising to become Professor of Aegean Archaeology, and then lectured at [University College London](/source/University_College_London) as [Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology](/source/Yates_Professor_of_Classical_Art_and_Archaeology). His best known excavation sites are [Kythera](/source/Kythera) and [Knossos](/source/Knossos).

==Early life==
Coldstream was born on 30 March 1927 in [Lahore](/source/Lahore), [British Raj](/source/British_Raj).<ref name="obit – The Guardian">{{cite news|last=Johnston|first=Alan|title=Nicolas Coldstream|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/jul/04/highereducation.mainsection|accessdate=19 October 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 July 2008}}</ref> Sir John Coldstream, his father, was serving in the British colony as a High Court Judge.<ref name="obit – The Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Professor Nicolas Coldstream|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1583838/Professor-Nicolas-Coldstream.html|accessdate=19 October 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 April 2008}}</ref> He was educated at the [preparatory school](/source/Preparatory_school_(United_Kingdom)) [St Cyprian's School](/source/St_Cyprian's_School), [Eastbourne](/source/Eastbourne) and the all-boys [public school](/source/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)) [Eton College](/source/Eton_College), [Eton, Berkshire](/source/Eton%2C_Berkshire).<ref name="obit – The Times">{{cite news|title=Professor Nicolas Coldstream|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/professor-nicolas-coldstream-0k9k9f98bnh|access-date=19 October 2013|newspaper=[The Times](/source/The_Times)|date=9 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="obit – independent">{{cite news|last=Cadogan|first=Gerald|title=Professor Nicolas Coldstream: Pioneering investigator of Greek culture and history of the ninth and eighth centuries BC|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-nicolas-coldstream-pioneering-investigator-of-greek-culture-and-history-of-the-ninth-and-eighth-centuries-bc-808995.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-nicolas-coldstream-pioneering-investigator-of-greek-culture-and-history-of-the-ninth-and-eighth-centuries-bc-808995.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=19 October 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=15 April 2008}}</ref>

Following school, he undertook [national service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom) in the [British Army](/source/British_Army).<ref name="obit – The Times" /> On 26 January 1946, he was [commissioned](/source/commissioned_officer) into [The Buffs](/source/The_Buffs) as a [second lieutenant](/source/second_lieutenant). He was given the [service number](/source/service_number) 362272.<ref name="LG 8 March 1946">{{London Gazette |issue=37496 |date=8 March 1946 |page=1328 |supp=y }}</ref> He saw active service in Egypt and [Palestine](/source/Palestine_(region)).<ref name="obit – The Guardian" /> He then read [classics](/source/classics) at [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge), [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge).<ref name="obit – The Times" /> He graduated with a [double first](/source/double_first) Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1951.<ref name="obit – The Telegraph" /><ref name="obit – independent" />

==Academic career==
Coldstream taught classics at [Shrewsbury School](/source/Shrewsbury_School), a [public school](/source/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)) in [Shrewsbury](/source/Shrewsbury), Shropshire from 1952 to 1956.<ref name="obit – The Guardian" /><ref name="obit – independent" /> While there, he was also an officer of the [Combined Cadet Force](/source/Combined_Cadet_Force). He transferred his commission into the school's contingent on 29 April 1954.<ref name="LG 8 June 1954">{{London Gazette |issue=40200 |date=8 June 1954 |page=3458 |supp=y }}</ref> He resigned his commission on 28 December 1956.<ref name="LG 11 January 1957">{{London Gazette |issue=40975 |date=11 January 1957 |page=356 |supp=y }}</ref> He then worked for one year as a temporary assistant keeper at the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, [British Museum](/source/British_Museum).<ref name="obit – The Telegraph" /><ref name="obit – independent" /> From 1957 to 1960, he undertook research at the [British School at Athens](/source/British_School_at_Athens).<ref name="obit – The Guardian" /> In 1958, he published his first [monograph](/source/monograph); ''An Etruscan Neck-Amphora''.<ref name="obit – The Telegraph" />

In 1960, he became a lecturer at [Bedford College](/source/Bedford_College_(London)), [University of London](/source/University_of_London).<ref name="British Academy – bio">{{cite web|title=COLDSTREAM, Professor Nicolas|url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/directory/dec.cfm?member=2032|work=British Academy Fellows|publisher=British Academy|accessdate=20 October 2013}}</ref> ''Greek Geometric Pottery'' was published in 1968,<ref name="obit – The Times" /> and has been described as his [magnum opus](/source/Masterpiece).<ref name="obit – The Telegraph" /> In 1966, he was promoted to [Reader](/source/Reader_(academic_rank)).<ref name="obit – independent" /> He was given a [personal chair](/source/personal_chair) as Professor of Aegean Archaeology in 1975.<ref name="obit – The Guardian" /> He published ''Geometric Greece'' in 1977.<ref name="British Academy – bio" /> In 1983, he moved to [University College London](/source/University_College_London) and became [Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology](/source/Yates_Professor_of_Classical_Art_and_Archaeology).<ref name="obit – independent" /> He retired in 1992, becoming [professor emeritus](/source/professor_emeritus).<ref name="obit – independent" />

In addition to his university work, he was involved in the running of the [British School at Athens](/source/British_School_at_Athens). He was the editor of ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'' from 1968 to 1973. He was a member and then chairman, from 1987 to 1991, of its managing committee.<ref name="obit – The Telegraph" /> He was, at his death, vice-president of the School.<ref name="BSA – obit">{{cite web|title=Professor John Nicolas Coldstream FBA, FSA (1927-2008) – in memoriam|url=http://www.bsa.ac.uk/pages/news_drill.php?news_id=5&cat_id=30|publisher=British School at Athens|accessdate=22 October 2013|archive-date=23 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023061201/http://www.bsa.ac.uk/pages/news_drill.php?news_id=5&cat_id=30|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personal life==
He was a cousin of [William Coldstream](/source/William_Coldstream), a painter.<ref name="obit – independent" />

He married his wife Nicola, a leading scholar of medieval architecture and art, in 1970.<ref name="guradian obit">{{cite news|title=Obituary, The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/jul/04/highereducation.mainsection|website=The Guardian|date=3 July 2008 |accessdate=23 November 2015 |last1=Johnston |first1=Alan }}</ref>

==Honours==
Coldstream was elected a Fellow of the [Society of Antiquaries of London](/source/Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London) (FSA) in 1964, and a Fellow of the [British Academy](/source/British_Academy) (FBA) in 1977. He was awarded the [British Academy](/source/British_Academy)'s [Kenyon Medal for Classical Studies](/source/Kenyon_Medal_for_Classical_Studies) in 2003.<ref name="Kenyon Medal 2003">{{cite web|title=THE KENYON MEDAL FOR CLASSICAL STUDIES AND ARCHAEOLOGY 2003|url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/about/medals/Kenyon_Medal_2003.cfm|publisher=British Academy|accessdate=19 October 2013}}</ref>

In his obituary, ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'' called Coldstream "one of the world's leading Classical archaeologists".<ref name="obit – The Times" />

==Selected works==
* ''Greek Geometric Pottery: a Survey of Ten Local Styles and their Chronology'' (1968). London: Methuen. 2nd ed. with supplement: Bristol: Phoenix Press, 2008, {{ISBN|1904675816}}
* ''Kythera: Excavations and Studies Conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the British School at Athens'', Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press (1973)
* ''Geometric Greece'' (1977, revised edition 2003), London: E. Benn
* ''Knossos Pottery Handbook: Greek and Roman'' (2001). London: British School at Athens.

==Necrology==
#''Etruscan News'' v. 10 (spring 2008)<ref>''Etruscan News'' v. 10 (spring 2008) http://ancientstudies.fas.nyu.edu/docs/CP/963/etruscan_news_10_version.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418140830/http://ancientstudies.fas.nyu.edu/docs/CP/963/etruscan_news_10_version.pdf |date=18 April 2015 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coldstream, Nicolas}}
Category:1927 births
Category:2008 deaths
Category:Academics of Bedford College, London
Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Category:British classical archaeologists
Category:English archaeologists
Category:Fellows of the British Academy
Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Category:People educated at Eton College
Category:People educated at St Cyprian's School
Category:Academics from Lahore
Category:British people in British India

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nicolas Coldstream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Coldstream) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Coldstream?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.