Helene J. Kantor (July 15, 1919 – January 13, 1993) was a Near Eastern Archeologist and Art Historian in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, best known for her work at Chogha Mish from 1961 through 1978.[1]

Helene J. Kantor
Kantor in 1989
BornJuly 15, 1919
Died(1993-01-13)January 13, 1993 (aged 73)
Mitchell Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
AwardsPercia Schimmel Archeological Prize
Scientific career
FieldsArcheology, art history
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago Oriental Institute
Thesis (1945)

Early life and education

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Kantor was born in Chicago in 1919 with congenital myopathy, a rare muscular disease that limited her activity and eventually ended her career. Her father was psychologist Jacob Robert Kantor. She attended Indiana University Bloomington and received a B.A. in Zoology and Biology at the age of 19. She earned her Ph.D. in 1945 from the University of Chicago.[1]

Research career

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In 1944, while still a student at the University of Chicago, she published an article entitled "The Final Phase of Predynastic Culture, Gerzean or Semainean" in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Her most noted work, The Aegean and the Orient in the Second Millennium B.C., was published in 1947.[2]

Kantor retired as Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at the University of Chicago.[when?] Aside from her primary work at Chogha Mish, she saved the site of nearby Chogha Bonut from destruction by modern development and conducted two seasons of investigation there in 1976/77 and 1977/78.[3]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b Williams, Bruce (1993). "Helene J. Kantor (1919-1993)". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 30: ix–xi. JSTOR 40000222.
  2. ^ Kantor, Helene (1947). The Aegean and the Orient in the Second Millennium B.C. Bloomington, IN: Principia Press.
  3. ^ Alizadeh, Abbas. Excavations at Choga Bonut: The Earliest Village in Susiana, Iran Archived 2013-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, The Oriental Institute News and Notes, No. 153, Spring 1997.
  4. ^ "The Helene J Kantor Memorial Lecture". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
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