| Janet May Buchanan | |
| Birth Date: | 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow |
| Occupation: | Egyptologist |
Janet May Buchanan (1866 - 8 August 1912) was a Scottish Egyptologist, whose collection efforts comprise approximately one quarter of the Egyptian artefacts in the Glasgow Museums' collections.[1]
Janet May Buchanan was born in Glasgow in 1866, the daughter of George Buchanan and Janet Shaw (née Blair).[2] Buchanan was educated at a private school in Cheltenham. On her father's death in 1906, she inherited a substantial sum, enabling the pursuit of her own interests. Among these was Egyptology.
Buchanan was the founder of two organisations for the purpose of supporting excavations: Egypt Research Students Association[3] (with branches in both Glasgow and Edinburgh), and the Glasgow Egypt Society.[4] In 1912, she curated Glasgow's first exhibition of Egyptian material, held at the Kelvingrove Museum. Although Buchanan was killed in a car accident just three weeks after the exhibition's opening, it continued for six months and welcomed 10,000 visitors a week.
Janet May Buchanan died on 8 December 1912.[5]