Edmond Sollberger, FBA (12 October 1920 – 21 June 1989) was a Turkish-born, Swiss–British museum curator,

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

ist and scholar of the

Sumerian language Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 3000 BC. It is accepted to be a local language isolate and to have been spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is modern-day ...

Early life and education

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

citizen, Sollberger was born in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

on 12 October 1920. He learnt to speak French, English, Turkish and Greek. He studied at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

, graduating in 1945 and then continuing to study

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

under Henri Frei. He then went to

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 ...

, where studied Sumerian under

Anton Deimel ''Liste der archaischen Keilschriftzeichen'' (; "list of archaic cuneiform signs"), abbreviated LAK, is a dictionary of Sumerian cuneiform signs of the Fara period ( Early Dynastic IIIa, c. 25th century BC short chronology, 26th century BC midd ...

in 1947. Christopher Walker
"Edmond Sollberger (12 October 1920 – 21 June 1989"
''

Archiv für Orientforschung Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1949 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, specialising in recordi ...

'', vol. 35 (1988), p. 258.

Career

In 1949, Sollberger was appointed an assistant keeper of archaeology at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. While there, he wrote ''Études de Linguistique Sumérienne'' (1950), ''Le Système Verbal dans les Inscriptions "Royales" Présargoniques de

Lagaš Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ...

'' (1952) and ''Corpus des Inscriptions "Royales" Présargoniques de Lagaš'' (1956); for the 1952 book, he received the

DLitt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from the University of Geneva in 1952. In 1961, Sollberger moved to England to be a temporary assistant keeper of Western Asiatic antiquities at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

under

Richard David Barnett Richard David Barnett, CBE, FBA (23 January 1909 – 29 July 1986) was the Keeper, Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities of the British Museum. Early life Born on 23 January 1909, Barnett was the son of Lionel David Barnett, who was th ...

. With the brief exception of R. F. G. Sweet, he was the department's first

ist since Cyril Gadd departed in 1955 (another cuneiformist, Hugo Figulla, was a supernumary member of staff). In 1967, Sollberger was appointed to the full grade of assistant keeper. In 1970, he became deputy keeper in the department and in 1974 he succeeded Barnett as keeper. In 1963 and 1964, he edited two volumes for the series ''Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum'' (working from copies by Theophilus Goldridge Pinches); he made his own copies for another volume in the series (''Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic Economic Texts'') in 1972. He also wrote a popular book, ''The Babylonian Legend of the Flood'' (1962), as well as ''Inscriptions Royales Sumeriennes et Akkadiennes'' (with Robert Kupper, 1971); he edited ''The Pinches Manuscript'' (1978) and authored ''Administrative Texts Chiefly Concerning Textiles'' (1981). In the meantime, Sollberger had been appointed co-editor of ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bury ...

'' (1969) and from 1979 was the editor-in-chief of ''The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia'' series based at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. He had been elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA) in 1973. Sollberger had a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1982, which left him unable to continue his duties; he retired from the British Museum in 1983. He died on 21 June 1989; his wife Ariane and their two daughters survived him."Edmond Sollberger", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 24 June 1989, p. 12.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sollberger, Edmond 1920 births 1989 deaths Linguists of Sumerian Swiss curators Linguists from the United Kingdom Fellows of the British Academy Employees of the British Museum University of Geneva alumni Swiss expatriates in the Ottoman Empire Swiss expatriates in Italy Swiss expatriates in the United Kingdom