Folarin Olawale Shyllon (23 July 1940 – 17 January 2021) was a historian recognised for his contributions to the history of black people in Britain and his work on heritage law and protection of cultural heritage.
Shyllon studied law at King's College London, receiving an MA in 1967.
He headed the committee of the National Archives of Nigeria and was a key figure in developing the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970) and the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (1995).
[4] He was the author of two chapters in the Oxford Handbook on International Cultural Heritage Law (2020).
[2] He actively campaigned for the recovery of looted artefacts, including the Benin Bronzes.