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.

Biography

He studied at the University of Jena

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena , is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany....

 under Ernst Buschor and Hans Diepolder, and then at the University of Berlin with Werner Jaeger

Werner Jaeger

Werner Wilhelm Jaeger was a classicist of the 20th century.Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia. He attended school at Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum in Kempen Jaeger studied at the University of Marburg and University of Berlin. He received a Ph.D...

, where he earned his first doctorate. He emigrated to the United States, becoming naturalized in 1940. Hanfmann became a student of David Moore Robinson

David Moore Robinson

David Moore Robinson was an American classical archaeologist credited with the discovery of the city of Olynthus....

, earning a second Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins in 1935. During World War Two 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

Harvard Society of Fellows

The Harvard Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginning of their careers by Harvard University for extraordinary scholarly potential, upon whom distinctive academic and intellectual opportunities are bestowed in order to foster their individual growth and intellectual...

 to full professor. He established the Department of Ancient Art and trained students, including Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule III

Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule III

Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule III was a scholar of ancient art and curator of classical art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1957 to 1996.-Biography:...

. In 1958 he began excavations at ancient Sardis

Sardis

Sardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...

 and continued there until 1976. In 1978 he received the Gold Medal

Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America

The Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement is awarded by the Archaeological Institute of America in "recognition of a scholar who has made distinguished contributions to archaeology through his or her fieldwork, publications, and/or teaching."It is the Institute's highest award...

 from the Archaeological Institute of America

Archaeological Institute of America

The Archaeological Institute of America is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It has offices on the campus of Boston University and in New York City.The institute was founded in 1879,...

. He retired from Harvard in 1982.

Works

• For complete bibliography, see: "Bibliography of George M. A. Hanfmann, 1935-71." In Studies Presented to George M.A. Hanfmann. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971, pp. xii-xx. also, Joanee Bloom. "Bibliography of George M. A. Hanfmann, 1971-86." American Journal of Archaeology 91.2 (April 1987): 264-266.
• Ancient Art in Private American Collections: A Loan Exhibition at the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University (Cambridge, 1954).
• [Jerome Lectures] From Croesus to Constantine (Ann Arbor, 1975).
• The Season Sarcophagus in Dumbarton Oaks (Cambridge, 1952).
• and Mierse, William E., and Foss, Clive. Sardis from Prehistoric to Roman Times: Results of the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, 1958-1975. (Cambridge, 1983).
• [D.Phil. thesis]Altetruskische Plastik I: Die menschliche Gestalt in der Rundplastik bis zum Ausgang der orientalisierenden Kunst. (Wurzburg, 1936).
• Classical Sculpture. The History of Western Sculpture 1. (Greenwich, CT,1967).
• Observations on Roman Portraiture. Collection Latomus 11. (Brussels, 1953).
• Roman Art: a Modern Survey of the Art of Imperial Rome. (Greenwich, 1964).