19/02/2026
In Memoriam: Emeritus Professor Michael Greenhalgh (1943–2026)
It is with profound sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Brill author Michael Greenhalgh, who died suddenly on January 27, 2026, at the age of 82.
A distinguished art historian and educator, Professor Greenhalgh leaves behind a monumental legacy within the academic community, particularly at the Australian National University (ANU).
Born in Stafford, England, Greenhalgh’s career spanned decades and continents. He served as a senior lecturer at the University of Leicester before moving to Australia in 1987 to accept the prestigious Sir William Dobell Foundation Chair of Art History at ANU.
His work with Brill was instrumental in exploring the survival and destruction of monuments and antiquities.
Publications include:
Marble Past, Monumental Present (2009)
Constantinople to Córdoba (2012)
The Military and Colonial Destruction of the Roman Landscape of North Africa (2014)
Plundered Empire (2019)
Islamic Architecture through Western Eyes: Spain, Turkey, India and Persia. Vol 1 (2022)
Islamic Architecture through Western Eyes: Syria, Egypt and North Africa. Vol 2 (2024)
As Emeritus Professor, he remained an active contributor to his field, continuing to research, write, and publish until shortly before his passing.
His forthcoming book “Islamic Architecture through Western Eyes: Palaces around the Mediterranean – Volume 3” will be published in the summer of 2026, and we are sad that he will not see it in print.
https://brill.com/display/title/64468?srsltid=AfmBOopRhWnnHH2dLq0_Sxa8bcXzwIT5SOg8pPkcbBkZsEOE-YYrL9b7
We extend our deepest condolences to family and friends. He will be remembered not only for his scholarly authority but for his enduring curiosity and the kindness he showed to his colleagues and students.
Professor Greenhalgh never explicitly named one single "favorite" monument in a definitive personal list, but described Rodin’s sculpture of Balzac as “surely the most extraordinary sculpture of the nineteenth century" and "one of the greatest triumphs of figurative art".
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