In memoriam Anna Allott

89EULOGIES In memo iam Anna Allo (1930–2024) Hana Na a ilo a The e a e excep ional people who ouch many li es in away ha is bes desc ibed simply as wa m and deeply posi i e. Anna Joan Allo OBE1 née Sa gan was one o hem. Bo n Sep em‑ be 22, 1930, Anna was he daugh e o wo ema kable people: Ma ie Sa gan née Hlouško á (1899–1991) and Thomas Sa gan (1905–1988). He mo he was one o he i s emale s uden s o philology a he Cha les Uni e si y in P ague, and wen o become aphilologis , eache , lec u e and epig aphe . Anna’s a he became a espec ed law e o me , campaigning o hu‑ man igh s. The ma iage o Anna’spa en s ended in di o ce. Howe e , his pa ed way o he in e ac ion wi h ano he ema kable igu e, Ja osla Če ný (1898–1970), acosmopoli an Egyp‑ 1 O ice o he Mos Excellen O de o he B i ish Empi e. Fig. 1 An ony and Anna Allo in Bu ma, cou esy o amily a chi e (pho o by Lucy Hea he ing on) 90 PRAGUE EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES XXXII/2024 ologis , who became he mo he ’spa ne and hen second husband. He belie ed in Anna’s academic abili y, and suppo ed he s udies, as he had done wi h o he emale schola s in a ime when his a i ude was no acommon p ac ice. Anna wen on o ha e adis inguished ca ee o he own, s udying Bu mese unde H. F. Sea le, and becoming a o emos Bu mese schola a School o O ien al and A ican S udies (Uni e si y o London), whe e she also me he husband, An ony Allo . Since 1957, she had augh Bu mese o junio B i ish diploma s p e ‑pos ing, mos o whom wen on ob ain high diploma ic o ices. Anna isi ed Bu ma (Myanma ) egula ly un il a egime change s opped ha oppo uni y, and she emained in ouch wi h he Bu mese in ellec uals. Awa ded he Mos Excellen O de o he B i ish Empi e (OBE) in 1998 o “se ices o B i ish ‑Bu mese ela ions”, Anna was, among o he academic du ies and o ices, also he sec e a y o he B i ain ‑Bu ma Socie y om 1980 o 1997. He in e es s in li e we e a om exhaus ed by he academic ac i ‑ i y. Mo he o ou child en, she was also akeen ga dene , who egula ly opened he ga dens in Bodico e, Ox o dshi e, o local cha i ies. She con inued o do so in Wedmo e, Some se whe e she spen he las wel e yea s o he li e. He links o he wo ld o Egyp ology consis ed o many ac s o gene osi y. In he ea ly 1990s, she and he sis e Naomi e i ed links wi h Czechoslo akia and hen he Czech Repub‑ lic. Thei con ibu ions o he a chi es o bo h he G i i h Ins i u e (Ox o d) and he Czech Ins i u e o Egyp ology (P ague) helped o ob ain a iche pic u e o he li e o Ja osla Če ný. When Če ný’s i s biog aphe , Jiřina Růžo á, was wo king on he po ai o his excep ional Egyp ologis in he 2010s, she was in i ed o isi Anna, who sha ed he insigh ul memo ies. Anna ac ed equally gene ously owa d Če ný’ssecond biog aphe adecade la e , making ama e ial di e ence o he olume ha appea ed as ‘The ci izen o nowhe e’, showcasing he ansna ional cha ac e o Če ný’sp o essional li e, bu also o he unique open ‑minded en i‑ onmen ha su ounded him in his pe sonal space. Wi hou Anna’s ecollec ions, he dia y, and e en ually agene ous suppo o he publica ion, he biog aphy would ha e been much poo e . I was a e y sad momen o ealise ha he e won’ be any mo e phone calls which b ough so many insigh s in o he unique jou neys o Anna’s amily h ough he 20 h cen u y. Hana Na a ilo a Uni e si y o Ox o d, Ha is Manches e College