Berthold Laufer

Berthold Laufer ( born October 11, 1874 in Cologne, † September 13, 1934 in Chicago ) was a German anthropologist, a Sinologist and East Asia researcher.

Family

Berthold Laufer was the son of the Cologne-based parents Max and Eugenie Laufer, born Schlesinger. The paternal grandparents - Salomon and Johanna Laufer - belonged to the Jewish faith: They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the synagogue of Krotoschin.

Life

From 1884 to 1893 Berthold Laufer attended the Friedrich- Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Cologne. He studied Sinology since 1893 when Wilhelm Grube at the University of Berlin and Malay in George of the Gabelentz at the University of Leipzig, where Laufer in 1897 his doctorate with a dissertation on the critical analysis of a Tibetan text. He also studied Buddhism at Otto Franke, Tibetan Georg Huth and Japanese with Rudolf Lange.

1898 emigrated Laufer - inspired by Franz Boas - in the United States. At this time - 1896 to 1900 - Boas was deputy scientific director of the anthropology department at the American Museum of Natural History. In the museum Laufer worked after his return from two expeditions as an assistant for Ethnology 1904-1906. From 1905 to 1907 he taught anthropology and East Asian Languages ​​at Columbia University. As a curator of anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago Berthold Laufer worked from 1908 until his suicide. Laufer left more than 450 publications, an extensive private library, correspondence, notes on work in progress and Collectibles in two museums. However, he did not leave any documents containing personal information

Expeditions

Award

Publications

• The Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes. Publications Of The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol 4, The American Museum of Natural History, New York 1902.
• Jade. A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1912.
• Chinese Clay Figures. Part I: Prolegomena on the History of Defensive Armor. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1914.
• The Beginnings of Porcelain in China. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1917.
• Introduction of Tobacco into Europe. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1924.
• Ivory in China. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1925.
• The Giraffe in History and Art Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1928.
• Paper and Printing in Ancient China. The Caxton Club, Chicago, 1931.

• The novel is a Tibetan queen. Paper jewelry by Tibetan originals drawn by Albert Grünwedel. Verlag Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig 1911.
• Milaraspa. Tibetan texts. Folkwang -Verlag, Hagen, 1922.

• Hartmut Walravens (Ed.): Smaller fonts from Berthold Laufer. Part I: publications from the period 1894-1910 2 vols Steiner, Stuttgart 1998 ISBN 978-3-515-02128-9.
• Hartmut Walravens (Ed.): Smaller fonts from Berthold Laufer. Part II:. Publications from the period 1911-1925 2 vols Steiner, Stuttgart 1998 ISBN 978-3-515-02651-2
• Hartmut Walravens (Ed.): Smaller fonts from Berthold Laufer. Part II: publications from the period 1925-1934 Steiner, Stuttgart 1998 ISBN 978-3-515-03688-7.

• Journal of the American Society Oriental. Vol LIV, pp. 352-362.