14 Facts About Bettany Hughes

Bettany Hughes's published books cover classical antiquity and myth, and the history of Istanbul.

Bettany Hughes is active in efforts to encourage the teaching of the classics in UK state schools.

Bettany Hughes is the daughter of actors Peter and Erica Hughes, and the sister of the cricketer and journalist Simon Hughes.

Bettany Hughes was educated at Notting Hill and Ealing High School in Ealing, and at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she graduated with a degree in ancient and modern history.

Bettany Hughes has an honorary doctorate from the University of York.

Bettany Hughes is a visiting research fellow at King's College London, formerly a tutor for Cambridge University's Institute of Continuing Education, and an honorary fellow at Cardiff University.

In 2010, she gave the Hellenic Institute's Tenth Annual lecture "Ta Erotika: The Things of Love"; in 2011, Bettany Hughes gave the Royal Television Society's Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture, in which she argued that history on television is thriving and enjoying a new golden age.

Bettany Hughes is a patron of The Iris Project, a charity that promotes the teaching of Latin and Greek in UK state schools.

Bettany Hughes is an honorary patron of Classics For All, a national campaign to get classical languages and the study of ancient civilisations back into state schools.

Bettany Hughes is an advisor to the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation which aims to foster large-scale collaborative projects between East and West.

Bettany Hughes is a Vice President of the National Churches Trust.

Bettany Hughes was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 3 March 2017.

Bettany Hughes was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to history.

Bettany Hughes was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.