Edith Schönert-Geiß (7 August 1933,

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

– 12 June 2012,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a German

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

, who specialised in the classical coinage of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

and was instrumental in the post-war re-establishment of the Corpus Nummorum.

Biography

Edith Schönert was born on 7 August 1933 in Dresden. After she graduated from secondary school there, Schönert moved to Berlin to study History at

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

. She began work on 1 September 1956, aged 23, at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (Central Institute for Ancient History and Archaeology); her first project was on the mints of Greece - the study of which was to continue throughout her career. She became instrumental in the post-war continuation of th
Corpus Nummorum
established by

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

. In 1960, Schönert-Geiß was awarded a doctorate from

for research on the provincial coinage of

Perinthus Perinthus or Perinthos () was a great and flourishing town of ancient Thrace, situated on the Propontis. According to John Tzetzes, it bore at an early period the name of Mygdonia (Μυγδονία). It lay west of Selymbria and west of Byzanti ...

. In addition to her research and publications on ancient Thrace, Schönert-Geiß studied Roman coins found in forts along the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Her early work on the mint of

Selymbria Selymbria (),Demosthenes, '' de Rhod. lib.'', p. 198, ed. Reiske. or Selybria (Σηλυβρία), or Selybrie (Σηλυβρίη), was a town of ancient Thrace on the Propontis, 22 Roman miles east from Perinthus, and 44 Roman miles west from Cons ...

was reviewed as particularly useful, placing it in the context of its larger neighbouring mints. Schönert-Geiß taught at both the Free University and at Humboldt University. At her retirement from the Academy of Sciences on 31 August 1998, she was honoured with a ''Festschrift'' which commemorated her meticulous scholarship. One of her last publications was a comprehensive bibliography of Thracian coinage, which was monumental in its scope, with 9350 references.

Personal life

After her marriage, she took the name Geiß for personal matters, but published her academic work under the name Schönert-Geiß. In her spare time she enjoyed needlework and embroidery. Schönert-Geiß died on the 12 June 2012. Her funeral was attended by colleagues and the taxi driver who she employed on a daily basis.

Honours

For her services to research into Greek coinage, she was made an honorary member of the Romanian Numismatic Society in 1963 and an honorary member of the Numismatic Society of Stara Zagora in Bulgaria in 1987. The city of

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

granted her honorary citizenship for her services to numismatics. She was also an honorary member of the

International Numismatic Council The International Numismatic Council (INC), formerly the International Numismatic Commission, is the international co-ordinating body set up to aid cooperation between numismatists and institutions within the field of numismatics, or related areas ...

Selected publications

* ''The Coinage of Perinthus'' (Berlin, 1965) * ''The Coinage of Byzantion: Volumes 1 & 2'' (Berlin/Amsterdam 1972) * ''The Coinage of Bisanthe - Dikaia - Selymbria'' (Berlin, 1972) * with Karl Matthiae: ''Münzen aus der urchristlichen Umwelt'' (Berlin, 1981) * ''The Coinage of Maroneia'' (Berlin, 1987) * Ancient coins. Collection HAS (= from the collections of the Winckelmann Society in Stendal. Volume 1). Stendal 1989. * ''The Coinage of Augusta Traiana and Traianopolis'' (Berlin, 1991) * ''Bibliography on Ancient Numismatics of Thrace and Moesia'' (Berlin, 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonert-Geiss, Edith 1933 births 2012 deaths People from Dresden People from Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German numismatists Women numismatists German classical scholars German women classical scholars