Benjamin Dean Meritt

Benjamin Dean Meritt FBA ( born March 31, 1899 in Durham, North Carolina; † July 7, 1989 in Austin, Texas) was an American classical scholar and epigraphists.

Life

Benjamin Dean Meritt was the elder son of the classicists Arthur Herbert Meritt, who was a professor at Duke University. His younger brother was the linguist Herbert Dean Meritt ( 1904-1984 ).

Benjamin Dean Meritt attended Hamilton College ( BA 1924) and then spent a year as Locke scholar at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens ( ASCOE ). Here he furthered his studies on Greek epigraphy, he devoted his life's work.

From 1923 to 1924 Meritt worked as a Greek lecturer at the University of Vermont and was working on his dissertation, which he at Princeton University for Ph.D. 1924 received his doctorate. After two years as assistant professor at Brown University and Princeton University, he was appointed in 1926 as Assistant Director of ASCOE, with which he remained all his life: From 1926 to 1969 he was a member of the leadership of the Commission ASCOE; he visited her also as Annual Professor (1932/1933 and 1954/1955) and as a visiting professor (1935/1936 and 1969/1970 ).

From 1928 Meritt taught as an Associate Professor and Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. In 1932 he was suspended for one year, when he took over the management of the Athens College in Greece. In 1933 he was appointed Professor Francis White of Greek to the Johns Hopkins University. Two years later he moved to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton as Professor of Greek Epigraphy at the School of Historical Studies.

His retirement ( from 1969) Meritt spent at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a visiting researcher from 1971 to 1972 and a visiting professor from 1973 until his death.

Services

Meritt was mainly concerned with the Greek epigraphy, the results of which he heranzog to historical research. His focus was the history of Athens and Attica in the 5th century BC to the ASCOE he oversaw the publication of over 7000 inscriptions, mostly originating from the Agora. As a fruit of his research he published fundamental studies on the Athenian tribute system and the Athenian calendar.

Through his work as a researcher, lecturer and organizer of science itself Meritt acquired international recognition. He was president of the American Philological Association (1952/1953), Honorary Member of the Athens Archaeological Society, corresponding member of the British Academy and the German Archaeological Institute. For the year 1958/1959 he was invited as Sather Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He received the Goodwin Award ( 1954), the Order of the Phoenix ( commander ) and the Order of George I