Benno Landsberger

Benno Landsberger (21 April 1890 in Friedek, Austrian Silesia – 26 April 1968) was one of the most important German Assyriologists.

He was born on April 21, 1888 in Friedek (Austrian Silesia) and from 1908 studied Oriental Studies at Leipzig. Amongst his teachers were August Fischer in Arabic and Heinrich Zimmern in Assyriology. In 1914 Landsberger joined the Austrian Army, where he fought with distinction on the Eastern Front, winning a golden Distinguished Service Cross. He returned to Leipzig after the war and was appointed to the position of 'extraordinary professor" in 1926. In 1928 he was appointed successor to Peter Jensens at Marburg, but returned to Leipzig in 1929 as Zimmern's successor.

Landsberger was dismissed as a result of the Nazi-era Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service which excluded Jews from government employment. Landsberger accepted a post at the new Turkish University of Ankara, working especially in the area of languages, history and geography. After 1945 he was appointed to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, where he worked until 1955. During this period he became a naturalized American citizen.

Landsberger was an eminent and groundbreaking scholar, editing many important lexical texts and conducting fundamental linguistic studies. He passed on a Germanic academic tradition that continues today in many countries via his students. He was also known for particularly black humor and a love of cigars and beer.

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