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Gaston Maspero
Sign in to saveAlso known as Gaston Camille Charles Maspero, Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
French egyptologist (1846–1916)
OverviewAI-generated
Gaston Camille Charles Maspero was a French and Italian Egyptologist, archaeologist, university teacher, and folklorist. Born in Paris on 23 June 1846, he was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the École Normale Supérieure. He spoke French, Egyptian, and Arabic, and wrote in French. Maspero served as a teacher at the Collège de France, the École pratique des hautes études, the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities. He was a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, and The Queen's College.
His notable works include *The dawn of civilization*, *Manual of Egyptian archæology and guide to the study of antiquities in Egypt*, *Archéologie égyptienne* (1887), *Guide du visiteur au Musée du Caire*, and *Une enquête judiciaire à Thèbes au temps de la XXe dynastie*. He received the Commander of the Legion of Honour award. Maspero died in Paris on 30 June 1916 and is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery. He had three children: Georges Maspero, Henri Maspero, and Jean Maspero.
Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Europeana Sparql, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 23 June 1846
- Died
- 30 June 1916
- Works
- 353
Top works
- Une enquête judiciaire à Thèbes au temps de la XXe dynastie
- Guide du visiteur au Musée du Caire
- The dawn of civilization
- Manual of Egyptian archæology and guide to the study of antiquities in Egypt
- Archéologie égyptienne (1887)
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- Gaston Camille Charles Maspero , ( 1846-06-23 ) 23 June 1846, Paris, France
- Died
- 30 June 1916 (1916-06-30) (aged 70), Paris, France
- Occupation
- Egyptology
- Predecessor
- Auguste Mariette
- Spouse s
- Harriett Yapp (1871-1873) , Louise Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant de Rebecque (1880-)
- Children
- Georges Maspero , Harriett Maspero, Henri Maspero , Jean Maspero
- Relatives
- François Maspero , grandson
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Charles
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Italy
- Place of death
- Paris
- Child
- Jean Maspero
- Occupation
- art historian
- Position held
- chairperson
- Educated at
- Lycée Louis-le-Grand
- Languages spoken
- Arabic
- Doctoral student
- Raymond Weill
- Image
- Gaston Maspero Reutlinger BNF Gallica.jpg
Show 11 more facts
- place of burial
- Montparnasse Cemetery
- Commons category
- Gaston Maspero
- date of birth
- 1846-06-24
- date of death
- 1916-06-30
- student
- Walter Ewing Crum
- name in native language
- Gaston Maspero
- birth name
- Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
- member of
- Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
- writing language
- French
- contributed to creative work
- Popular Science
- Commons Creator page
- Gaston Maspero
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
4 objects attributed to Gaston Maspero, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero KCMG (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist and director general of excavations and antiquities for the Egyptian government. Widely regarded as the foremost Egyptologist of his generation, he began his career teaching Egyptian language in Paris becoming a professor at the Collège de France. In 1880, he led an archaeological mission to Egypt, which later became the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale.
In 1881, Maspero's investigation led to the discovery of a hidden tomb near Dayr al-Baḥrī, containing 40 mummies, including pharaohs Seti I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose III, and Ramses II. His study of these findings was published in Les Momies royales de Deir-el-Bahari (1889). After a brief period in Paris, he returned to Egypt to organize a vast collection of antiquities at a museum in Cairo's Būlāq district, which later became the foundation of the Egyptian Museum established in 1902. During his second tenure as director general (1899–1914), Maspero regulated excavations, combated illicit trade, preserved monuments, and oversaw the archaeological survey of Nubia.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gaston Maspero” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.