Henri Willy Pleket

Henri Willy Pleket, also written as Harry Willy Pleket and H. W. Pleket, (22 September 1930 – 5 January 2025) was a Dutch historian, epigrapher and university professor.

Pleket studied ancient studies at Leiden University, and received his doctorate in ancient history in 1958. He was a research assistant at Leiden University from 1960 to 1967 and afterwards a lecturer (lector) until 1976. In 1976 he became professor of ancient history and Greek and Latin epigraphy. He retired in December 1993.^[1]

Pleket's research focused on epigraphy. From 1978 to 2003 he was editor of Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. He also published on ancient social and economic history and the history of the Ancient Olympic Games. Pleket was a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academia Europaea (1992).^[2]

Pleket died in Oegstgeest on 5 January 2025, at the age of 94.^[3]

• The Greek Inscriptions in the ‘Rijksmuseum van Oudheden’ at Leyden, Brill, Leiden 1958.
• Epigraphica, 2 volunes, Brill, Leiden 1964 and 1969.
• Epigrafiek en oude geschiedenis, Brill, Leiden 1964.
• (with Moses Finley): The Olympic Games. The first thousand years. Chatto & Windus, London 1964.
• (with H. W. Singor, Hendrik Simon Versnel): Korte maatschappijgeschiedenis van de antieke wereld, Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen 1983, ISBN 90-01-71280-0.