{{Short description|British journalist and archaeologist (1947–2023)}} '''Peter A. Hellyer''' (9 November 1947 – 2 July 2023) was a British-Emirati film-maker, journalist, historian and archaeologist. He was instrumental in building the United Arab Emirates' national press agency, WAM, and in cataloguing, celebrating and co-ordinating academic research on the archaeology and natural history of the Emirates.

== Early years == Peter Hellyer was born in London to Arthur and Grace Hellyer, a horticultural journalist and a teacher. He was educated at Oundle School in Northamptonshire and then graduated from the University of Sussex' School of African and Asian Studies in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in International Relations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Peter A. Hellyer papers: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids |url=https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/nyuad/ad_mc_068/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=findingaids.library.nyu.edu |language=en-us}}</ref>

A committed activist from a young age, Hellyer joined the executive of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and, at 21, helped create the 1969 Stop the Seventy Tour campaign, launched to boycott all-white South African sporting teams attempting to visit the UK.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Hellyer |first=H. A. |title=Activist, historian and archaeologist of the West and Arab world: my father, Peter Hellyer |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2023/07/05/peter-hellyer/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref>

Hellyer first travelled to the Middle East in 1969 and subsequently accepted an assignment from film company UPITN (a joint venture between press agency United Press International and British broadcaster ITN), to film the official foreign visits of the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan. The first such visit by Zayed was to France in July 1975 and Hellyer subsequently accompanied Zayed on trips to Iran, Egypt, Yemen, and Sri Lanka.<ref name=":0" /> He also filmed the rapid growth of the city of Abu Dhabi.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-07-03 |title=Peter Hellyer, prolific writer who chronicled the UAE's rise over nearly five decades, dies at 75 |url=https://apnews.com/article/uae-obit-peter-hellyer-media-7377ba9e534da256e9af41ad33cb062e |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>

== Media roles == The UAE Ministry of Information and Culture approached Hellyer to establish the foreign language service of Abu Dhabi Radio, as well as the domestic English language Capitol Radio. By 1979 he was working to launch the English language service of the Emirates Press Agency, in Arabic ''Wakalat Anba'a al Emarat'' or WAM, working with the Agency's Palestinian-born director, Ibrahim Al Abed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-03 |title=Peter Hellyer, UK-born writer who chronicled the rise of UAE for nearly 50 years, dies at age 75 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/peter-hellyer-uk-born-writer-chronicled-rise-uae-50-years-dies-age-75 |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Associated Press |language=en-US}}</ref> This began a lifelong friendship between the two men.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-06 |title=Peter Hellyer: A man who proved that East and West could meet |url=https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/peter-hellyer-a-man-who-proved-that-east-and-west-could-meet-1.96810297 |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=gulfnews.com |language=en}}</ref> He returned to London in 1982 but continued to work with officials in Abu Dhabi. A life-long Liberal and ad advisor to Liberal leader David Steel,<ref name=":3" /> he took a key role in organising a delegation from the Liberal Party to visit Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Zayed and was subsequently recalled to Abu Dhabi in February 1985 to take up the post of launch editor of Emirates News, Abu Dhabi's first English language newspaper.<ref name=":0" /> He remained as managing editor of Emirates News until it was closed in January 1999. He was described, as a journalist, as 'fearless'.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Beech |first=Mark Jonathan |date=2024-06-11 |title=In Memoriam: Peter Hellyer, 1947–2023 |url=https://archaeopresspublishing.com/ojs/index.php/PSAS/article/view/2505/2090 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |language=en |volume=53 |pages=vii–viii |issn=0308-8421}}</ref>

Hellyer was an Advisor for Media, Environment and Heritage for the UAE Ministry of Information and Culture from 1999 to 2004, at which time he became Advisor for External Communications at the UAE National Media Council. In 2021 he transferred to act as an advisor to the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth.

== Natural history == An enthusiastic amateur naturalist and a keen bird watcher, Hellyer chaired the Emirates Natural History Group from 1989 to 1992, launching its journal, ''Tribulus''<ref name=":1" /> and founded the Emirates Bird Records Committee, collecting information on all species of native and migratory birds in the UAE.<ref name=":0" /> He was responsible for the preservation of a number of sites of natural beauty in Abu Dhabi, including the Al Wathba Lake.<ref name=":2" />

== Archaeology == In 1992 he was made executive director of the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, or ADIAS, which documented sites and potential sites of archaeological significance across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. With a mandate to preserve key sites of historial interest in the face of the Emirates' rapid development, Hellyer's work at ADIAS resulted in dozens of surveys of critical sites across the Emirate.

One of the key sites discovered by ADIAS under Hellyer was a pre-Islamic Christian monastery on Sir Bani Yas island in 1995. Between 2009 and 2012, he was project director of the excavations of the monastery.<ref name=":0" />

He was also active in archaeological work in other emirates, including in Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ziolkowski |first=Michele |title=Peter Hellyer: Colleague, friend, family |url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/opinion/columnists/peter-hellyer-colleague-friend-family |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Khaleej Times |language=en}}</ref>

Hellyer wrote and edited a number of books on the archaeology, social and natural history of the Emirates and from 1991 to 2019 edited t''he journal of the Emirates Natural History Group, Tribulus.'' From 2008 until 2022 he was a regular columnist for Abu Dhabi-based English language daily The National.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peter Hellyer {{!}} The National |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/topics/Author/peter-hellyer/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=www.thenationalnews.com |language=en}}</ref>

He was granted Emirati citizenship in 2010 by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He was awarded Abu Dhabi's highest civilian honour, the Abu Dhabi Medal, in 2013.<ref name=":1" /> Maintaining a second home in Jersey, he was an enthusiastic ambassador between the UAE and his island home, and was awarded the Silver Seal by the Bailiwick of Jersey in 2012. He was a founding member of the British Business Group, now the British Chamber of Commerce, Abu Dhabi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BCC AD offers Condolences to Founding Member Peter Hellyer {{!}} British Chamber of Commerce Abu Dhabi |url=https://bccad.ae/news/bcc-ad-offers-condolences-founding-member-peter-hellyer |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=bccad.ae}}</ref>

His papers, including reports, correspondence, publications, news clippings, and audiovisual materials, are held as an archive at the New York University, Abu Dhabi.<ref name=":0"/>

== Works == ''Fujairah: An Arabian Jewel'' (1994)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellyer |first=Peter |title=Fujairah: An Arabian Jewel |date=1994 |publisher=Motivate |isbn=978-1873544730 |location=Dubai}}</ref>

''Filling in the blanks: Recent archaeological discoveries in Abu Dhabi'' (1998)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellyer |first=Peter |title=Filling in the blanks: Recent archaeological discoveries in Abu Dhabi |date=1998 |publisher=Motivate |isbn=978-1860630248 |location=Dubai}}</ref>

''Early Days in Abu Dhabi: The Origins of ADCO 1936-1971'' (2001)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellyer |first=Peter |title=Early Days in Abu Dhabi: The Origins of ADCO 1936-1971 |date=2001 |publisher=Motivate |isbn=9781860631283 |location=Dubai}}</ref>

''Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the UAE (ed. Potts, Daniel; Al Naboodah, Hasan; Hellyer, Peter)(2003).''<ref>{{Cite book |title=Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E |date=2003 |publisher=Trident Press |isbn=978-1-900724-88-3 |editor-last=Potts |editor-first=Daniel T. |location=London}}</ref>

''Jebel Hafit, A Natural History'' (2004)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellyer |first=Peter |title=Jebel Hafit, A Natural History |publisher=Motivate |year=2004 |isbn=978-9948031437}}</ref>

''The Emirates - A Natural History'' (2005) <ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellyer |first=Peter |title=The Emirates - A Natural History |publisher=Motivate |year=2005 |isbn=978-1905486021}}</ref>

''Fifty Years of Emirates Archaeology: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the UAE (ed. Potts, Daniel; Hellyer, Peter)(2012)''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellyer |first=Peter |title=Fifty Years of Emirates Archaeology: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the UAE (ed. Potts, Daniel; Hellyer, Peter)(2012) |publisher=Motivate |year=2012 |isbn=9781860633232 |location=Dubai}}</ref>

''United Arab Emirates - A New Perspective'' (ed. Al Abed, Ibrahim; Hellyer, Peter)<ref>{{Cite book |title=United Arab Emirates: a new perspective |date=2001 |publisher=Trident Press |isbn=978-1-900724-47-0 |editor-last=Al Abed |editor-first=Ibrahim |location=London |editor-last2=Abed |editor-first2=Ibrahim al}}</ref> First published in 1997

His last work, ''The Natural History of Fujairah'', was published posthumously.

''Tribulus - the Journal of the Emirates Natural History Group'' - 1991-2019<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tribulus, The Journal of the Emirates Natural History Group |url=https://enhg.org/Home/Publications/Tribulus.aspx |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=enhg.org}}</ref>

== Personal life == Hellyer converted to Islam in the early 1970s.<ref name=":3" />

== Death == Peter Hellyer died in Abu Dhabi on 2 July 2023, at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historian Peter Hellyer Who Helped Tell the UAEs Story Passes Away |url=https://www.uaemoments.com/historian-peter-hellyer-who-helped-tell-the-uaes-story-passes-away-593452.html |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=UAE Moments |language=en}}</ref> He was widely mourned both in his adopted country<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dhanjal |first=Nandini Sircar, Meher |title=UAE: Legendary historian Peter Hellyer passes away; tributes pour in |url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-legendary-historian-peter-hellyer-passes-away |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Khaleej Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-03 |title=Renowned Historian Peter Hellyer's Demise Mourned In UAE |url=https://theemiratestimes.com/renowned-historian-peter-hellyers-demise/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |language=en-US}}</ref> and his second home, Jersey.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jersey |first=States of |title=Government of Jersey |url=https://www.gov.je/News/Speeches/MinisterExternalRelationsSpeeches/pages/statementonthepassingofpeterhellyeronsunday.aspx |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=gov.je |language=en}}</ref> On his death, WAM - the news agency he helped found - noted, "Hellyer's incredible devotion to the nation he loved will be remembered with great affection."<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 July 2023 |title=WAM mourns death of Emirati media veteran Peter Hellyer |url=https://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395303173840 |access-date=10 November 2024 |website=WAM}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellyer, Peter}} Category:1947 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century English archaeologists Category:20th-century English naturalists Category:Alumni of the University of Sussex Category:Archaeologists from London Category:English expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Category:Film directors from London Category:Historians of the United Arab Emirates Category:Journalists from London Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) people Category:People educated at Oundle School