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Dr Márcia Balisciano bids farewell to Benjamin Franklin House

After more than 20 years of dedicated service as Director, Dr. Márcia Balisciano MBE, will bid farewell to Benjamin Franklin House on 18 September 2025.

We are grateful for Márcia’s exceptional contribution which turned a derelict building, Franklin’s only surviving home, into a thriving museum and educational facility. 

Among her achievements has been delivering a vibrant presentation of Franklin and his London story and legacy for over 170,000 visitors, along with engaging public programming, including more than 500 public events, and ensuring that the House’s free educational provision benefitted more than 50,000 children.

Over the course of her tenure, she raised more than £5 million pounds, while building strong partnerships with a range of organisations and individuals on both sides of the Atlantic.

As she leaves to take on a new project, we warmly wish her all the best in her endeavours and look forward to partnering with her again in the future.

While we recruit Márcia’s successor, if you have any questions please contact Dave Morse (director@benjaminfranklinhouse.org) who will address your query to the most appropriate person. 

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Benjamin Franklin – Great Lives – BBC Radio 4

Our Chairman, John Studzinski, appeared on the latest episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme, Great Lives, to discuss Benjamin Franklin.

 

Released On: 01 Sep 2025

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Matthew Parris heads to the house where Benjamin Franklin lived for almost 17 years to meet banker and philanthropist John Studzinski.

Franklin was born in Boston when it was still a part of the British empire, ran away to Philadelphia and lodged near Charing Cross at 36 Craven Street in London for over a decade. He was an agent for the Pennsylvania assembly, and also an ambassador to Paris where he helped persuade the French to join the breakaway American states in their war against the British.

His nominator John Studzinski is chair of the board that runs the Benjamin Franklin House in London and says that he would have loved to have been the great man’s apprentice.

Joining the conversation is Professor Kathleen Burk who admires Franklin the enlightened writer but is less sure about his treatment of his wife. Kathleen Burk is author of Old World, New World: Great Britain and America from the Beginning.