George M. A. Hanfmann

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George Maxim Anossov Hanfmann
BornNovember 1911
Died13 March 1986 (1986-03-14) (aged 74)
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationClassical archaeologist and art historian

George Maxim Anossov Hanfmann (born November 1911, in St. Petersburg, Russia; died March 13, 1986, in Watertown, Massachusetts) was a famous archaeologist and scholar of ancient Mediterranean art. [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

He studied at the University of Jena under Ernst Buschor and Hans Diepolder, and then at the University of Berlin with Werner Jaeger, where he earned his first doctorate. He emigrated to the United States, becoming naturalized in 1940. Hanfmann became a student of David Moore Robinson, earning a second Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1935. During World War II he served in the Office of War Information in London as radio editor. He returned to Harvard and became a curator at the Fogg Art Museum. By 1956 he had progressed at Harvard from junior fellow to full professor. He was one of the first to be awarded the title University Professor, which is the position from which he retired shortly before his death. [Note: The title of University Professor was created in 1935 to honor individuals whose groundbreaking work crosses the boundaries of multiple disciplines, allowing them to pursue research at any of Harvard's Schools.] He established the Department of Ancient Art and trained students, including Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule III. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1953. [3] In 1958 he began excavations at ancient Sardis and continued there until 1976. [4] [5] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1970. [6] In 1978 he received the Gold Medal from the Archaeological Institute of America. He retired from Harvard in 1982 after teaching his legendary course, "Greek Art & Culture," for the last time spring semester 1981–82. [7]

Works

Sources

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References

  1. Medwid, Linda M. The Makers of Classical Archaeology: A Reference Work. (New York, 2000) pp. 138–140.
  2. "George Maxim Anossov Hanfmann". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  3. George M. A. Hanfmann; A. H. Detweiler (1966). Sardis Through the Ages.
  4. George M. A. Hanfmann (1 October 2013). Letters from Sardis. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-674-33242-3.
  5. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  6. David Gordon Mitten; John Griffiths Pedley; Jane Ayer Scott (1971). Studies presented to George M.A. Hanfmann. Verlag P. von Zabern.