Grave of Ernest Nash at Cimitero acattolico Rome

Ernest Nash (September 14, 1898, in Potsdam, Germany – May 18, 1974 in Rome, Italy) was a student of

Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome ...

and pioneer of archaeological photography. Nash was born as Ernst Nathan in Potsdam, Germany, but later changed his name to Nash when he was living in

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between 1939 and 1952. He was a graduate of the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

and had a law office in his native city of Potsdam, Germany. Nash first went to Italy on August 30, 1936, with the goal of documenting in photographs the ancient ruins of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Ostia, and Pompeii. The main reason for fleeing Potsdam was the institution of the

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by Adolf Hitler. He emigrated to the United States in 1939 but returned to Italy in 1952 to continue his work. He established the Fototeca Unione archive at the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

in 1957 and served as its director. Besides architectural photography he also produced a series of portraits of famous musicians, including Béla Bartók, while he lived in

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. The Bartók photo is still used by ''

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''. He was survived by Bertha, his third wife, two daughters, two grandchildren, and now two great-grandchildren. His first two wives have already died. Nash died in Rome in 1974. Nash's tomb is located in Rome's Campo Cestio cemetery.

Works

*''Roman towns. Photographs and text by Ernest Nash''. (New York: J. J. Augustin, 1944). *''Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' 2 vol. (1962).

Literature

*Radnoti-Alföldi, M.; Lahusen, M. C.: ''Ernest Nash - Ernst Nathan: Potsdam, Rom, New York, Rom'', Nicolai'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung; 2000. In German. .
A Short Biography of Ernest NashThe Urban Legacy of Ancient Rome: Photographs from the Ernest Nash Fototeca Unione Collection at Stanford University Library

References

External links

Ernest Nash
1898 births 1974 deaths People from Potsdam German classical scholars 20th-century American photographers Photographers from Brandenburg University of Jena alumni Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-photographer-stub