Alfred Merlin
Alfred Merlin | |
---|---|
Born | 13 March 1876 |
Died | 16 March 1965 | (aged 89)
Occupation(s) | Historian Archaeologist Numismatist Epigrapher |
Alfred Merlin (13 March 1876, in
Biography
After his studies at the
In 1907 he was alerted by Greek sponge fishermen cruising between Sousse and Sfax on the existence of a cluster of columns mixed with debris of all kinds lying forty meters deep. Merlin then enlisted local maritime authorities and financial support to launch the first campaign of underwater archaeological excavation on the Mahdia shipwreck. He thus brought to the surface some Athenian art objects dating back to the first century B.C., including the famous Hermes bronze Dionysus, signed by the sculptor Boethus. Campaigns on the wreck by Merlon followed each other until 1913.
He then became curator and chief curator of Greek and Roman antiquities at the Louvre Museum from 1921 to 1946. In 1928 he was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, of which he was permanent secretary until 1964.
Alfred Merlin was the son in law of historian René Cagnat; his wife Renée died 2 March 1965 aged 89.[1]
Publications
The vast majority of works by Alfred Merlin consists of communications made to the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques :
- L'Aventin dans l'Antiquité, BEFR, fasc. 97, 1906 ;
- L'Année épigraphique (director).
References
- ^ ISBN 978-2-8111-0396-5.
Sources and bibliography
- Pierre Boyancé, "Nécrologie : Alfred Merlin (1876-1965)", Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire, vol. 77, N° 77-2, 1965, (p. 641–642) (read online)
- Georges Tessier, "Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. Alfred Merlin, Secrétaire perpétuel honoraire de l'Académie", CRAI, vol. 109, N° 2, 1965, (p. 482–494) (read online)
External links
- (in German) Der Unterwasser-Pionier
- (in French) Biographie d'Alfred Merlin on Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques