Eszter Bánffy, (born 1957) is a Hungarian

prehistorian Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, and academic. Since 2013, she has been Director of the Romano-Germanic Commission at the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''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, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

. She is also a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the Archaeological Institute of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

Education and academic career

Bánffy graduated from school in 1975. Between 1975 and 1980, she studied archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities and between 1977 and 1982 she also studied

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

at ELTE. In 1983, she studied at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

on a scholarship. Between 1983 and 1986, she was an academic postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Archaeology of the

. Between 1986 and 1988, she was a research assistant, between 1988 and 2005, a senior research associate, between 2001 and 2008, a scientific department head, from 2005 a scientific advisor, and from 2008 to 2011 a deputy scientific director. Since 2005, she has been a member of the board of the

European Association of Archaeologists The European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) is a membership-based, not-for-profit association, open to archaeologists and other related or interested individuals or bodies in Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1994 at an inaugural meeting in ...

. In 2008, she was a visiting researcher at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Since 2009, she has been an honorary professor at the

University of Szeged The University of Szeged () is a Public university, public research university in Szeged, Hungary. Established as the Jesuit Academy of Kolozsvár in present-day Cluj-Napoca in 1581, the institution was re-established as a university in 1872 by ...

. Her research interests include the archaeology of the Neolithic and Copper Age, theoretical archaeology, and the archaeological legacies of early religions.

Honours

On 9 April 2015, Bánffy was elected a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. In 2017, she was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. She is also an elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Awards

Bánffy was awarded the "Révay" prize of the Society for Ancient History in 1986, the Soros "Open Society" Scholarship from 1998 to 1999 as well as the Fulbright Scholarship in 2006. She won the Kuzsinszky Bálint Memorial Medal in 2007 and the Field Discovery Award from Shanghai Archaeology Forum in 2017. In 2018, she was awarded the Félix Neubergh Prize by the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

. She also won the Flóris Rómer Plaque of the Hungarian Archaeological Society in 2020 and the Europa Prize of the Prehistoric Society in 2022.

Selected works

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References

External links

* :de:Eszter Bánffy {{DEFAULTSORT:Bánffy, Eszter 1957 births Living people Prehistorians Hungarian archaeologists Hungarian women archaeologists German Archaeological Institute Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts