Alessandro Palma di Cesnola

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Alessandro Palma di Cesnola (born December 26, 1839 in Rivarolo Canavese in Piedmont , † 1914 ) was an Italian and American military personnel (major), diplomat and robber of Italian descent.

He was the brother of the better known antiquarian Luigi Palma di Cesnola . Between 1876 and 1879 he systematically plundered Cypriot antiquities. He dug in Paphos (where he was US Vice Consul) and Salamis . He carried out robbery excavations in Ormidia and Enkomi , among others . In 1878, following a complaint by Max Ohnefalsch-Richter , the Superintendent of Excavations on the instructions of the British High Commissioner Sir Garnet Wolseley, he was charged with violating the Ottoman language, which was still valid after the British takeover of the island Arrested under the Antiquities Act and sentenced to a fine in Nicosia on October 23, 1878 , after refusing to be released on bail.

Some of his booty was confiscated and ended up in the collections of the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. Other parts were shipped to England and ended up in the "Lawrence Cesnola" collection in Holland Park in London . The Larnaka tympanum excavated by Cesnola is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum .

In 1883 he returned to Italy, where he continued his career in the military.

Publications

  • Salaminia ‹Cyprus›. The history, treasures and antiquities of Salamis in the island of Cyprus . London 1882; 2nd edition 1884
    • Italian: Salamina (Cipro): Storia, tesori e antichità di Salamina nell'isola di Cipro . Turin; Florence; Rome 1887
  • Oro e vetri antichi di Cipro scavati negli anni mille ottocento settantasei al 1879: Il culto di Venere Contenenze archeologiche lette alla società filotecnica di Torino e 10 febraio e 30 mayo 1884 . Turin 1884
  • Catalogo di manoscritti italiani esistenti nel Museo Britannico di Londra . Turin 1890

literature

  • Hans-Günter Buchholz : Max Ohnefalsch-Richter as an archaeologist in Cyprus . In: Cahier de Center d'Etudes Chypriotes 11–12, 1989, pp. 3–27, here pp.? ..
  • Mara Sternini: The collezione di antichità di Alessandro Palma di Cesnola . Bari 1998. ISBN 88-7228-204-7
  • Robert S. Merrilees: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter and the British . In: Paul Åström , Dietrich Sürenhagen (eds.): Periplus. Festschrift for Hans-Günter Buchholz on his eightieth birthday on December 24, 1999 , Jonsered, P. Åströms förlag 2000, pp. 107–117, here p.?.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Palma di Cesnola, Alessandro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American major, diplomat, and amateur archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Rivarolo Canavese , Piedmont
DATE OF DEATH 1914