Carl Blegen

Carl William Blegen (born January 27, 1887, Minneapolis, Minnesota; died August 24, 1971 Athens, Greece) was an archaeologist famous for his work on the site of Pylos in modern day Greece and Troy in modern day Turkey. Blegen was professor of classical archaeology at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio (1927–57). He directed the university's excavations of the mound of Hisarlik, the site of Troy, from 1932 to 1938.

Blegen earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1904 and started graduate studies at Yale University in 1907. At Athens he was a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies (1911-13), during which time he worked on excavations at Locris, Corinth and Korakou. During World War I Blegen was involved in relief work in Bulgaria and Macedonia, receiving the Saviors Order from Greece in 1919. Following the war he completed his Ph.D. at Yale (1920). He was then assistant director of the American School (1920-26); during his tenure he excavated at Zygouries, Phlius, Prosymna, and Hymettos. In 1924 he married Elizabeth Denny Pierce in Lake Placid, New York. In 1927 Blegen joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati. His excavations at Troy were carried out between 1932 and 1938, followed by those at the palace of Nestor in Pylos, Greece in 1939 (the dig resumed 1952-69). Blegen retired in 1957.

He received honorary degrees from the University of Oslo and the University of Thessaloniki in 1951; an honorary D.Litt. from Oxford in 1957 and an honorary LL.D. from University of Cincinnati in 1958. Further honorary degrees came in 1963: Litt.D. from Cambridge, and others from the University of Athens, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. In 1965 the Archaeological Institute of America awarded Blegen the Gold Medal for archaeological achievement. Mr. Blegen also had a school hall named in his honor on the University of Minnesota's Twin City Campus. Students attend Blegen Hall today for Economics, Political and Social Sciences courses.

Asked how to pronounce his name, Blegen told The Literary Digest: "Seeking the pagan is Doctor Blegen (blay'gen)." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

Bibliography

• ed. Troy: Excavations Conducted by the University of Cincinnati, 1932–38, 4 vols. (1950–58).
• Troy and the Trojans (1963).
• and Marion Rawson The Palace of Nestor at Pylos in Western Messinia, 3 vols. (1966–73).

References

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• Carl William Blegen Papers at The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

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