Sir Charles Waldstein (March 30, 1856 – March 21, 1927), known as Sir Charles Walston from 1918 to 1927, was an Anglo-American archaeologist. He also competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.^[1]

Waldstein was born into a Jewish family in New York City, United States, on March 30, 1856, third son of Henry Waldstein, a merchant, and Sophie, daughter of L. Srisheim, of New York.^[2][3] He was of Austrian descent.^[4]

Waldstein was educated at Columbia University (A.M., 1873),^[5] and also studied at Heidelberg (Ph.D., 1875). In 1880, he became university lecturer on classical archaeology at Cambridge University, and in 1883 university reader.^[2] From 1883 to 1889 he was director of the Fitzwilliam Museum. In 1889 he was called to Athens as director of the American School of Classical Studies, which office he held until 1893, when he became professor at the same institution. In 1894 he was made a fellow of King's College.^[2] In 1895 he returned to England as Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge; and he held this chair until 1901. During his stay in Athens he directed the excavations of the Archaeological Institute of America at the site of ancient Plataea, Eretria, where he claimed to have unearthed the tomb of Aristotle, the Heraeum of Argos, among other discoveries. Later he formed an international committee to promote the excavation of Herculaneum.^[6]

He was knighted in 1912,^[7] appointed as Knight of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog, and appointed Commander of the Greek Order of the Redeemer.^[8]

He married Florence, daughter of D. L. Einstein and widow of Theodore Seligman, in 1909. They had one son, Henry, and a daughter, Evelyn Sophie Alexandra, who married the judge Sir Patrick Browne.^[8][9] He changed his surname to Walston in 1918^[10] and died in 1927 whilst on a Mediterranean cruise.^[2]

Besides writing the following books, Waldstein also published in journals numerous reports on his excavations. He wrote three short stories under the pseudonym 'Gordon Seymour' which were later released under his own name as The Surface of Things (1899).

• Balance of Emotion and Intellect (1878)
• Essays on the Art of Phidias (1885)
• The Jewish Question and the Mission of the Jews (1889, anon.; 2nd ed. 1900)
• The Work of John Ruskin (1894)
• The Study of Art in Universities (1895)
• The Expansion of Western Ideals and the World's Peace (1899)
• The Argive Heraeum (1902)
• Art in the Nineteenth Century (1903)
• Aristodemocracy: From the Great War back to Moses, Christ and Plato (1916)
• Harmonism and Conscious Evolution (1922)

Waldstein competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens in the military rifle event. His final score and place in the competition are unknown, but his first two strings of 10 shots apiece resulted in scores of 354 and 154. This put him at 508 points halfway through competition, though the rest of the results have been lost.

• Joseph Jacobs and Frederick T. Haneman, Jewish Encyclopedia.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Charles Waldstein". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available^[11]) includes reprint of article "The Olympian Games at Athens" by Charles Waldstein, originally published in The Field magazine, May 1896.