Ricardo Francisco Eichmann (born November 1, 1955) is an Argentine-born German
archaeologist
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 ...
. He was the director of the Orient Department of 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 ...
between 1996 and 2020 and previously a professor of
Near Eastern archaeology
Near Eastern archaeology is a regional branch of the wider, global discipline of archaeology. It refers generally to the excavation and study of artifacts and material culture of the Near East from antiquity to the recent past.
Definition
Th ...
at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
.
Early life
Ricardo Francisco Eichmann was born on November 1, 1955, in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
. As a teenager, Eichmann learned of his father's history from books. He rejected the Nazi ideology of his father and accepted that his execution was justified.
From 1977, Eichmann studied
prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
and
protohistory
Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...
,
classical archaeology
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...
and
Egyptology
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
at
Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. His 1984 dissertation was titled ''Prehistoric Aspects of Floor Plans in the Middle East''.
Academic career
Eichmann is an archaeologist. From 1984 to 1994, he worked first as a scientific consultant and later as a research assistant in the ''Baghdad department'' of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. Eichmann was then briefly Professor of Near Eastern archaeology at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
from 1995 to 1996. From 1996 to 2019 he was the first director of the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin, being succeeded by Margarete van Ess in 2020. His research interests include music archaeology in the Near East and Egypt.
Personal life
In 1995, he met
Zvi Aharoni
Zvi Aharoni ( he, צבי אהרוני; 6 February 1921 – 26 May 2012) was an Israeli Mossad agent instrumental in the capture of Adolf Eichmann.
Biography
Hermann Arndt (later Zvi Aharoni) was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. He imm ...
, the Mossad agent who was chiefly responsible for his father's capture. Eichmann declines most requests for interviews. He has two sons.