Frans Blom
Frans Ferdinand Blom (born August 9, 1893 in Copenhagen , † June 23, 1963 in San Cristóbal de las Casas , Chiapas , Mexico ) was a Danish explorer and archaeologist .
Career
Frans Blom grew up in Copenhagen as the child of a middle class family of antique dealers. His first trip took him to Mexico in 1919 , where he found a position as paymaster in the oil industry. He traveled to remote areas in the Mexican jungle and began to be interested in the Mayan culture . He documented and drew their ruins and received a contract with the National Museum of Anthropology , which also financed some of his expeditions.
Blom met the archaeologist Sylvanus Griswold Morley , who placed him at Harvard University in Boston , where he received a degree in archeology. He got a job at Tulane University in New Orleans and made several expeditions to Central America during his time there . In 1924 he discovered previously unknown remains of Mayan complexes in Uaxactun in Guatemala . His research in the area of the isthmus of Tehuantepec yielded the first scientific reports on a number of facilities of the Olmec culture. In 1930, Blom undertook very detailed measurements in the so-called "nuns square" of Uxmal , on the basis of which a true-to-life reproduction was made for the 1933 World Exhibition in Chicago, but which has not been preserved.
In 1932 Frans Blom married the American Mary Thomas; the marriage ended in divorce after six years. As a result, he began drinking, which is why he lost his position as director of the Middle American Research Institute in Tulane, which he held from 1922 to 1940. He moved to Mexico, where he met and married the Swiss journalist Gertrude Duby-Blom (1901–1993).
In 1950 the Blom couple bought a large property in San Cristóbal de las Casas. They called the house Na Bolom - na means house in Lacandon , the Mayan language, bolom " jaguar " and also reminded of Blom's name. The Bloms turned the house into a cultural and scientific center with rooms for guests. Today the house is a museum. In addition, the Bloms continued to undertake expeditions on behalf of the Mexican government. Frans Blom died in 1963 at the age of 70.
Publications
- I de store Skove. Breve fra Meksiko . 1923
- Tribes and Temples . 1926/1927
- Conquest of Yucatan . 1936
- With Gertrud Blom-Duby: La selva Lacandona . 1955
literature
- Steen Johansen: Fra jaguarens hus - en beretning om mayaforskeren Frans Blom . Spring, 2003, ISBN 87-90326-51-2 .
- Tore Leifer, Jesper Nielsen and Toke Sellner: Reunert: Det urolige blod - Biography om Frans Blom . Høst & Søn, 2002, ISBN 87-14-29826-0 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Frans Blom: Short summary of recent explorations in the ruins of Uxmal . In: Negotiations of the XXIV. International Americanist Congress Hamburg, 1930, pp. 55–59.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blom, Frans |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blom, Frans Ferdinand |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish archaeologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 9, 1893 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Copenhagen |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 23, 1963 |
| Place of death | San Cristobal de las Casas |