Dorothy King

Dorothy King (1975) is an American author and controversialist who lives and works in England.

King lives in Kensington, London. She was born and reared in London where her American father, James King, ran a branch of Oppenheimer & Co.. She attended Malvern St James School and King's College London.

King attributes her interest in archaeology to her father's business partner Leon Levy and his wife Shelby White, who co-sponsored major archaeological digs in Israel.

King holds a PhD in archaeology from Oxford University.

She first gained public attention when she opposed the construction of facilities for the 2004 Summer Olympics at the site of the Battle of Marathon.

King wrote a 2006 book entitled The Elgin Marbles defending the British retention of the Marbles against Greek claims that they belonged to Greece and should be moved ot Athens. She has argued against allowing the Greeks to posess the marbles due to what she describes as slipshod conservation practices in Greek archaeologicalmuesums.

The The Sunday Times credited King's book with "reigniting" the controversy over possession of the Elgin marbles.

On the name dispute between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia she said: "The Macedonians invaded and conquered Skopje, but Alexander conquered Iran and Afghanistan as well. None of these two other countries ever claimed to be Macedonia. Amphipolis is in Macedonia, Vergina is in Macedonia and Macedonia is in Greece. To claim the opposite is so ridiculous. It is like saying that Jesus went to America..."

King is described as someone who "breaks the mould of the dusty academic". In his review of Elgin Marbles, for The Guardian, David Smith described King as: "Blonde, glamorous and a fearless hunter of treasures." The Daily Telegraph called her "an unusual archaeologist - young, glamorous and wealthy, outspoken and controversial."

She is also known as a blogger who discusses politics, as well as historical and archaeological subjects. In a 2005 article published in The Guardian King gave her thoughts on the subject of the "gender gap" in academia that was best summed up by the article's subtitle, "Wiles, not whining, are the way to overcome the gender gap, says Dorothy King".

King said that she spent some of her childhood in Florida and in France.