Persona

Grapow, Herman

1885-1967

German Egyptologist; he was born in Rostock, 1 September 1885; he studied Egyptian and Coptic under Erman and Steindorff at the University of Berlin, 1906-12, after having had his interest in Egypt aroused at the age of 17 by reading Steindorff's Blutezeit; PhD, 1912; he was made Hon. Professor in Berlin University, 1928; Professor of Egyptology, 1938-45 when he was dismissed for supporting the Nazi government; Dean of the Philosophical Faculty, 1940-45; Rector of the University of Berlin, 1943-45; he later founded the Institut für Orienforschung in the Berlin Academy of which he was director, 1956-62; Dr. Med. hon. c. Rostock University for his work on ancient Egyptian medicine and medical texts, 1955; Member of the Prussian Academy, 1938; Vice-Pres of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and Acting Pres 1943-5; Guest Professor at Cairo, 1960-1; it is as collaborator with Erman from 1907 in his great work on the Wörterbuch that Grapow is chiefly remembered, but he also wrote and helped to produce many other important works; for the dictionary he assisted in the preliminary task of gathering together the great mass of data, and played a major part in the sorting and arranging of the 1.5 million Zettel used in its production; he was responsible for the regular appearance of all the 11 subsequent vols., a truly gigantic editorial achievement; Grapow's other major interest was the study of medical texts, and with the help of two other writers he brought out no less than six vols. which were of fundamental importance, between 1954 and 1959; his bibl. published on his seventieth birthday lists 87 books and articles; among his principal works are Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, with A. Erman, 6 vols. 1931-55, and 5 of Belegstellen, 1935-55; Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter, I-III and V, 1954-8, IV with H. v. Deines and Westendorf, 1958, VI Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Drogennamen, with H. v. Deines, 1959; on his seventieth birthday a Festschrift was published by his friends with 40 articles by collegues; he died in Berlin, 24 August 1967.

• Who Was Who in Egyptology (5th ed. 2019), 188-189 fig. (portrait).