Alfred Chester Beatty

Sir Alfred Chester Beatty ( born February 7, 1875 in New York City, New York, † January 19, 1968 in Monte Carlo, Monaco) was an American mining engineer and collector.

Beatty was born in New York City; He graduated from Columbia University as a mining engineer. He made his fortune in Cripple Creek, Colorado, and in other scattered over the whole world mining companies. He has often been called "Copper King " ( King of Copper) respectively. He was all his life a passionate collector and possessed in the 1940s, a remarkable and impressive collection of oriental and western material. In 1950 he moved his collection to Dublin in Ireland. The Chester Beatty Library, which houses this collection moved in 2000 from the Shrewsbury Road to Dublin Castle. In 1954 he was knighted in 1957 he was made an honorary citizen of Ireland. At his death in 1968, he was given a state funeral: He is the only private person in Irish history, which was bestowed such a posthumous honor.

Some valuable for understanding the history of Egypt papyrus manuscripts bear the name of Chester Beatty ( Papyrus Chester Beatty ..., abbreviated pChester Beatty ... ).

For an understanding of the environment of the Old and New Testaments, the collection provides important source material.