Herbert Bloch (18 August 1911 – 6 September 2006) was a professor of Classics at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and a renowned authority on Greek historiography, Roman epigraphy and archaeology, medieval monasticism, and the transmission of classical culture and literature.

Life

A Jewish native of Germany, Bloch studied Ancient History, Classical Philology and Archaeology at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

and at the University of Rome, where he received his Dr. degree in Roman History in 1935 and the Diploma di perfezionamento in 1937. He was awarded a L.L.D. by the

University of Cassino The University of Cassino and Southern Lazio ( it, Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale) is an Italian public research university located in Cassino, Italy. It was established in 1979. Organization The University of Cassino ...

in 1989. He was a member of the staff of the excavations in Ostia in 1938. Because of anti-Semitic legislation in Italy at this time, Bloch emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1939. His brother, who stayed in Germany, was murdered in the Holocaust. Bloch taught at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

from 1941 to 1982. His teaching and research interests involved Greek and Roman

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, Roman

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

(especially architecture), and

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

literature. He was a Member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

(1953–54), Professor in Charge of the School of Classical Studies 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, ...

(1957–59), Senior Fellow of the

Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intell ...

(1964–79), Trustee of the Loeb Classical Library (1964–73). He served as President of the American Philological Association (1968/9) and as President of Fellows of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

(1990–93). He was a member of the

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 ...

, the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, the Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia (since 1990 Hon. Mem.), The

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...

, the Zentraldirektion of the

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...

. He was awarded the Premio "Cultori di Roma" 1999. He died on 6 September 2006 at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Selected works

His publications include *''I bolli laterizi e la storia edilizia romana. Contributi all'archeologia e alla storia romana'' (1936–38), printed as a book in 1948, 2nd ed. 1968 *''Supplement to Vol. XV,1'' of the ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

, Including Complete Indices to the Roman Brick-stamps'' (1948; 2nd ed. 1967); ed. Felix Jacoby, ''Abhandlungen zur griechischen Geschichtsschreibung'' (1956) *"Der Autor der Graphia aureae urbis Romae," ''Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters'', 40 (1984), pp. 55–175 (slightly enlarged to be published as a book by the

) *''Monte Cassino in the Middle Ages'', 3 vols. (1986) (awarded the ''Praemium Urbis'' in Rome 1987 and the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy 1988) *''The Atina Dossier of Peter the Deacon of Monte Cassino. A Hagiographical Romance of the Twelfth Century'' published in the series ''Studi e Testi'' 346 (1998).

Sources

* Christopher P. Jones
Herbert Bloch. Biographical Memoirs
in ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', vol. 152, no. 4, December 2008, pp. 533–40 * Mariano Dell'Omo

in «Benedectina. Rivista del Centro storico benedettino italiano», 53 (2006), pp. 517–523

from the catalogue of the

Deutschen Nationalbibliothek The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

References

External links

*
Guide to the Papers of Herbert Bloch
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

.
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Memorial Minute for Herbert Bloch
1911 births 2006 deaths Archaeologists from Berlin Latin epigraphers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Harvard University faculty Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America {{Classical epigraphy Jewish historians People from Berlin Harvard University people Members of the American Philosophical Society