Helen H. Tanzer (1876–1961) was a researcher, translator and educator of classical texts. She brought Roman archaeology to her students and the public through her teaching and published translation of Latin literature. She was also dedicated to the embassy of Belgium, despite being an American, and was an honorary attaché and a member of the Belgian Legion of Honor. She was honored with the Chevalier Order of Leopold II.

Family and youth

Tanzer was born to parents Arnold and Ida Tanzer. Her family, which included an older brother Lawrence and a younger sister Edith, was German-speaking and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. They lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Education and career

Tanzer attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, graduating in 1903. “English Usage, as shown by the Recent revision of the Bible" was the title of her senior thesis, showing her early interest in

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. Tanzer worked at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, teaching Latin and Greek. She continued her studies, attending

American School of Classical Studies , native_name_lang = Greek , image = American School of Classical Studies at Athens.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption = The ASCSA main building as seen from Mount Lykavittos , latin_name = , other_name = , former_name = , mo ...

in Rome in 1906–07. She was mentored by

David Moore Robinson David Moore Robinson (September 21, 1880, in Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. In 1929, she received her Ph.D. with her dissertation titled "The Common People of Pompeii" about

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. Also in 1929, she began her lifelong career as a classics and archaeology professor at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. During her career, she was a fellow as multiple scientific, language, and historic societies. Her associations include: *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

American Geographic Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

* the

American Philological Association The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA) is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization founded in 1869. It is the preemine ...

* the History of Science Society * New York Classics Club *

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

In addition, she served as the president of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States from 1921 to 1922.

Belgian work and honors

In the late 1910s, Tanzer worked in earnest with the Belgian government in the US. She edited the ''Belgian Bulletin'' and worked with Belgian Official Information Service in 1918–19. This led to her post as the honorary attaché to the Belgian embassy in Washington.

Research and publications

Tanzer was first published in an anthology for her friend and fellow Hunter College educator, Margaret Barclay Wilson, called ''Essays in Honor of M.B. Wilson'' in 1922. Her research and translations in 1924 introduced students to ''The Villas of Pliny the Younger.'' She translated the letters of

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

to give a contemporary picture of his Laurentine and Tuscan villas. Aside from merely translations, Tanzer also wrote a guide to the letter of Pliny the Younger called, aptly, ''The Letters of Pliny the Younger.'' It was published in 1936 during her time at Brooklyn College. Her other works include: * English translation from German:

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

’s ''In Praise of Folly'' (1931) * English translation of Christian Hüelsen’s first edition of ''The Forum and the Palatine'' (1928)

Retirement and collection

Tanzer left Brooklyn College, retiring in 1937. Two years later, she donated a collection of over 1,000 ancient artifacts to Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum because of her connection to its director, David Moore Robinson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanzer, Helen Henrietta 1876 births 1961 deaths American classical scholars American archaeologists American translators American women classical scholars American women archaeologists Classical archaeologists Brooklyn College faculty Hunter College faculty Barnard College alumni American Geographical Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Order of Leopold II