The British Library is to hand Oscar Wilde’s grandson a membership card bearing the famous Irish author’s name, 130 years after it was removed because of his homosexuality conviction.

In 1895 the board of trustees of the famous London Library expelled Wilde as a member after he was convicted of “immorality”, at a time when homosexual relations were illegal.

In June, the British Library announced that it intended to honor Wilde by reprinting its membership card, featuring a photograph of the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The card will be presented to Merlin Holland, Wilde’s grandson, at a ceremony tonight.

“Getting his card back is a nice gesture of apology and I’m sure his spirit will be lifted,” said Hiland, who has written a biography of his famous grandfather. The book, titled After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal, is about restoring the author’s name after his death.

Oscar Wilde died penniless in Paris in November 1900, aged just 46.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in England and Wales in 1967 and, a few years later, in Scotland and Northern Ireland.