William Hepburn Buckler

William Hepburn Buckler, FBA (1867–1952) was a French-born American classical scholar, archaeologist, diplomat and lawyer. He practised as a lawyer in Baltimore before serving in a number of diplomatic posts, which included service in London during the First World War and membership of the US delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. While a lawyer, Buckler had developed an interest in archaeology and classical scholarship. He was part of the US archaeological expedition (1910–14) to Sardis in modern-day Turkey and returned there in the 1920s to catalogue and decipher ancient inscriptions uncovered at the site – a project he remained involved with throughout the 1930s. He became an expert in the Lydian language and authored two monographs and three volumes of Monumenta Asiæ Minoris Antiqua. His scholarship was recognised with three honorary doctorates, a Festschrift (co-edited by his colleague W. M. Calder) and fellowship of the British Academy.