1973 – Sir Gerard L.M. Clauson

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Gerard Clauson was educated at Eton and Oxford becoming a Boden scholar in Sanskrit in 1911, Hall-Houghtman Syriac Prizeman, 1913; and James Mew Arabic Scholar, 1920. He followed a career in the Civil Service which was to culminate in serving as the Assistant Under-Secretary of State in the Colonial Office, 1940-1951. However he was also a skilled linguist and wrote papers on philology. When he died in May 1974, he had been a member of the Royal Asiatic Society for 62 years.

In 1973, an extra Gold Medal was conferred to mark the 150th Anniversary of the Royal Asiatic Society.

In the report of the Anniversary Meeting on the Sequicentenary of the Society, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1974, p.195, it was recorded that the Queen presented a special commemorative gold medal to Sir Gerard Clauson who had served the Society as both President and Director. There is no mention of this in the Council Minutes, however there was a separate Sesquicentenary Committee, which may have made the decision regarding the Medal.