Steindorff, Georg, 1861-1951

Georg Steindorff was born in Dessau in 1861 and is considered the most important Egyptologist from Germany of his era. The Egyptian Institute of the University of Leipzig was named in his honor in 2008. Georg Steindorff studied Egyptology and oriental languages in Göttingen and in 1893 began teaching at the University of Leipzig. In addition to his academic career in Leipzig, where he received various decorations and served as Dean and eventually Rector, his participated in numerous ground-breaking excavations in Giza, Tjebu und Aniba from 1903 to 1931. Because of his prominent position he was initially somewhat shielded from some of the anti-Semitic excesses of the 1930s, but by 1939 the need to emigrate had become clear and he and his family left for the United States. Here he continued to work and publish until his death in 1951 in California. Steindorff was married to Elise Oppenheimer, the sister of Franz Oppenheimer and daughter of Berlin Reform Rabbi, Julius Oppenheimer.

From the guide to the Georg Steindorff Collection, 1937-1972, (Leo Baeck Institute Archives)

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