Frans Blom
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Frans Blom (9 August 1893 – 23 June 1963) was a Danish explorer and
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 most associated with his research of the
Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, archit ...
of Mexico and Central America.


Biography

Frans Ferdinand Blom was born in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark to a middle-class family of antique merchants. He passed a matriculation exam at
Rungsted Rungsted, also known as ''Rungsted Kyst'' is an affluent suburban neighborhood in Hørsholm Municipality on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The center of Hørsholm is located two kilometers west of Rungsted. At the Øresund coast i ...
and received a trade education in Germany and Belgium. He started travelling, eventually reaching Mexico in 1919, where he found work in the oil industry conducting map and geologically survey the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, and Chiapas. Travelling to remote locations in the Mexican jungle, he became interested in the
Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
ruins which he encountered where he was working. He started drawing and documenting these ruins. After he showed his work to the
National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico) The National Museum of Anthropology ( es, Museo Nacional de Antropología, MNA) is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street withi ...
, it financed some of his expeditions. In 1922 he could leave the oil industry following a bout of
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
. He met American archaeologist and
Mesoamerican Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Withi ...
scholar
Sylvanus G. Morley Sylvanus Griswold Morley (June 7, 1883September 2, 1948) was an American archaeologist and epigrapher who studied the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century. Morley led extensive excavations of the Maya site of Chichen Itza ...
who was conducting fieldwork in Mexico and Central America. Morley brought Blom to
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 ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
where he received a formal education in archeology for two semesters during 1922–23. From 1923, he taught at
Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
and during his tenure, he undertook several expeditions to
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
. In 1923 his studies at
Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...
documented a number of features neglected by earlier researchers. In 1924 Blom excavated the Maya
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
of
Uaxactun Uaxactun (pronounced ) is an ancient sacred place of the Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands, in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. The site lies some north of the major center of Tikal. The ...
in
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. From his explorations around the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the Te ...
, he wrote some of the first scholarly reports of a number of sites of the
Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...
civilization. During 1925, he traveled with American anthropologist
Oliver La Farge Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge II (December 19, 1901 – August 2, 1963) was an American writer and anthropologist. In 1925 he explored early Olmec sites in Mexico, and later studied additional sites in Central America and the American Southw ...
(1901–1963) to what is now known as the
Olmec heartland The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest. It i ...
. In 1926 he was made head of Tulane's newly established Department of Middle American Research. In 1932 he was married to the American Mary Thomas, but six years later they were divorced. Blom acquired an alcohol habit which later forced him to retire from the university. Blom moved to Mexico, where in 1943, he met Swiss photographer Gertrude “Trudi” Duby (1901–1993), whom he married. In 1950, the Bloms bought a large house in
San Cristóbal de las Casas San Cristóbal de las Casas (), also known by its native Tzotzil name, Jovel (), is a town and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was the capital of the state until 1892, and is still consid ...
. This house was dubbed ''
Casa Na Bolom Casa Na Bolom is located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. It was the home of archeologist Frans Blom and his wife, documentary photographer, journalist, environmental pioneer Gertrude Duby Blom. Today, Casa Na Bolom operates a ...
'' ("House of the Jaguar"). The Bloms turned the house into a cultural and scientific center with rooms for visitors, with Gertrude continuing the enterprise for decades after Frans’ death. The house became a home base for expeditions and archeology, such as the nearby
Moxviquil Moxviquil is a Mayan archeological site in the highlands of the Chiapas near the tourist town of San Cristóbal de las Casas. The site was a small Mayan city which acted as an administrative and economic center. This site was first excavated by Fra ...
and noted expeditions into the
Lacandon Jungle The Lacandon Jungle (Spanish: ''Selva Lacandona'') is an area of rainforest which stretches from Chiapas, Mexico, into Guatemala. The heart of this rainforest is located in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas near the border with Guate ...
. The Bloms continued undertaking expeditions for the Mexican government. Blom died in 1963, at age 70 at
San Cristóbal de Las Casas San Cristóbal de las Casas (), also known by its native Tzotzil name, Jovel (), is a town and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was the capital of the state until 1892, and is still consid ...
in
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. His former residence now functions as the site of the museum Na Bolom.


Selected works

* ''I de store Skove : Breve fra Meksiko'' (1923) * ''Tribes and Temples'' (1926-1927) * ''Conquest of Yucatan'' (1936) * ''La selva Lacandona'' (1955), with Gertrude Duby


References


Other sources

* * . * . *


External links


Asociacion Cultural Na Bolom
- website of the Na Bolom cultural center
Chiapas amber - Frans Blom

Documentary Photographs of Gertrude Blom1930 Marwa’s Crush – Frans Blom & “Forever Amber”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blom, Frans Mayanists Harvard University alumni Mesoamerican archaeologists Danish Mesoamericanists Danish archaeologists Danish explorers Danish emigrants to Mexico People from Copenhagen 1893 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Mesoamericanists Tulane University faculty 20th-century American archaeologists