Sir Alan Charles Nelson Borg (born 21 January 1942) is a British historian. He is a former director of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

and librarian of the Order of St John.

Early life

Borg was born to Charles John Nelson Borg and Frances Mary Olive Hughes. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, where he remains an active director and trustee of the Westminster School Society. From Westminster he went up to

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he was awarded MA. Postgraduate studies took him to the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

. His doctorate thesis was 'Architectural Decoration of the Romanesque Period in Provence', for which he was awarded a PhD in 1970. A book based on it was published in 1972.

Career

After academic work in various higher educational institutions in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Borg returned to London. Curatorship became central to his work, when in 1970, on his return from the United States, he took up the post of Assistant Keeper at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from ...

, a post he held until 1978. His next appointment was that of Keeper at the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. Borg's move into museum management came in 1982 when he was appointed Director-General of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

, London. In 1995 Borg was appointed Director of the

, serving in this post until 2001. In 2010 he became a

Visiting Professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

Photography

Photographs attributed to Borg are held in the

Conway Library The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

at the Courtauld Institute of Art. The collection contains glass and film negatives as well as prints principally of architecture and sculpture.

Membership of boards and committees

Borg was a member of a number of committees and boards throughout his career, including: * Board of Management, The

, 1998-2002 * Trustee,

Foundling Museum The Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Collection as well as the Gerald ...

, 1998-2010 * Governor,

Thomas Coram Foundation for Children The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London which uses the working name Coram (formerly Coram Family). It originated as part of England's oldest children's charity, the Foundling Hospital, established by ro ...

, 1995-2005 * Order of St John Librarian and a Vice-President of the Foundling Museum.

Awards

*Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries London * Knight of the Order of St. John *Appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

1991 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 1991 for the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, were announced on 14 June 19 ...

Selected written works

* Borg, Alan (1972) Architectural Sculptures in Romanesque Provence, Clarendon Press, Oxford ISBN 9780198171928 *Borg, Alan (1979) Arms and Armour in Britain, HMSO, London ISBN 9780116705761 *Borg, Alan (1991) War Memorials: From Antiquity to the Present, Leo Cooper London ISBN 9780850523638 *Coke, David and Borg, Alan (2011) Vauxhaul Gardens: A History, Yale University Press, London ISBN 9780300173826 *Borg, Alan (2005) The History of the Worshipful Company of Painters, Otherwise Painter-stainers, Jeremy Mills, Huddersfield ISBN 9781905217052

Personal life

In 1964, Borg married Anne Blackmore in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. The couple were later divorced and in 1976 he married Caroline Sylvia Hill In Chelsea,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.Ancestry Library Edition

References

External links

''Debrett's People of Today''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borg, Alan 1942 births Living people People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art People associated with the University of East Anglia Directors of the Victoria and Albert Museum Directors of the Imperial War Museum Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London