Hedwig Kenner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hedwig Kenner (born April 20, 1910 in Vienna , † February 10, 1993 in Klagenfurt ) was an Austrian classical archaeologist .

Life and accomplishments

Hedwig Kenner's father was the painter Anton von Kenner , her great-uncle the archaeologist Friedrich von Kenner , and her great-grandfather Joseph Kenner dealt with numismatics . After the abolition of the nobility privileges, she no longer carried any of them in her name. She attended the Vienna III high school and passed her Matura with distinction. From autumn 1929, Kenner studied Classical Archeology and Classical Philology at the University of Vienna . She received her doctorate in 1934 with the work Das Luterion im Kult with Camillo Praschniker . She then became an assistant at the Archaeological Teaching Collection at Vienna University, and in 1936 at the Archaeological-Epigraphic Seminar. In 1937 she also passed her teaching examinations for higher teaching positions in Latin and Greek . She completed her habilitation on vases in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the vases from the Matsch collection for the general subject of classical archeology, the work was published as a volume of the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Austria (CVA). After Praschniker's death in 1949, Kenner took the chair for two years until Otto Walter was appointed . She remained his assistant and was also appointed associate professor in 1951. She also stayed with Otto's successor Fritz Eichler as an assistant at the institute in Vienna. In 1961 she was appointed full university professor in succession to Eichler, a position she held until 1980. She developed a rich teaching activity, which she continued after her retirement, and supervised over 70 dissertations (including Gerhard Langmann and Wilhelm Alzinger ). In 1969 she turned down the offer to head the Austrian Archaeological Institute , as it seemed inconceivable to her that a woman would head such an institution. That also had to do with the fact that, unlike research and teaching, she never enjoyed the tasks that she had as Ordinaria as head of the institute and that such tasks would have been priority in this function.

Kenner made his first practical excavation experience in the excavation campaigns of 1939 and 1940 under the direction of Hermann Vetter in Carnuntum . From 1948 she was a member of the excavation team on the Magdalensberg . Here she mainly worked on the small finds. She dealt mainly with art and Roman provincial archeology as well as ancient theater . Her research on the relationship between theater and ancient art was just as groundbreaking as her research on crying and laughing in ancient art. Above all, but not only the old work dealt with religious art. So she dealt with pre-Roman traditions as well as with provincial Roman cults and popular belief. Kenner was known for her ability to make scientific topics vivid and lively for students, professionals and laypeople. Kenner was an honorary member of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Carinthian History Association, a member of the German Archaeological Institute and a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences . For her scientific merits she was awarded the Silver Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria . On the occasion of her 70th birthday, a commemorative publication was dedicated to Kenner, the 53 contributions of which had to be divided into two volumes. In 1985 her former doctoral students dedicated a book to her on Roman wall painting on the Magdalensberg.

Kenner remained unmarried and spent the last years of her life in Carinthia, near her place of work on Magdalensberg. Almost nothing is known about her private life; it is believed that she devoted her life largely to science and research. Her nature is described as level-headed and balanced, her character as elegant, her mind as cheerful. She was meticulously precise and critical in teaching without hurting. In addition, her ability to self-discipline is emphasized, which also helped her with more monotonous work over longer periods of time. Only Kenner's perception of the 1930s and 1940s as a harmonious and happy time for the Vienna Archaeological Institute is now considered to be distorted by his own positive experiences. Kenner died in Klagenfurt after a long illness.

Grave of Hedwig Kenner at Gersthofer Friedhof Vienna

Fonts

  • The frieze of the temple of Bassae-Phigalia (= Kunstdenkmäler. 2, ZDB -ID 1188416-2 ). Deuticke, Vienna 1946.
  • as editor with Camillo Praschniker : The bath district of Virunum. Rohrer, Vienna 1947.
  • The theater and realism in Greek art. Sexl, Vienna 1954.
  • Crying and laughing in Greek art (= Austrian Academy of Sciences. Philosophical-historical class. Meeting reports. 234, 2, ISSN  0029-8832 ). Rohrer, Vienna 1960.
  • The phenomenon of the inverted world in Greco-Roman antiquity (= From research and art. 8, ZDB -ID 525524-7 ). History Association for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1970.
  • The Roman wall paintings of the Magdalensberg (= Carinthian Museum Writings. 70 = Archaeological research on the excavations on the Magdalensberg. 8). Verlag des Landesmuseum für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1985, ISBN 3-900575-00-2 .
  • The gods of the Austria Romana. In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World . Part 2: Principate. Volume 18: Wolfgang Haase (Ed.): Religion (Paganism: The religious conditions in the provinces). Part 2. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1989, ISBN 3-11-010366-4 , pp. 875–974, 1652–1745.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of winners of the Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria . Retrieved December 9, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Connoisseur, Hedwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian classical archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 1993
Place of death Klagenfurt