Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Scholar · Archaeologist · Cataloguer

Stephan G. Schmid

fl. 2018–2025 · Germany

Scholar who co-edited the 2018 volume on Max Ohnefalsch-Richter and has published Paul Schroeder's papers on Cyprus and a study of German official interest in Cypriot archaeology.

Biography

Stephan G. Schmid is the co-editor, with Sophie G. Horacek, of Max Ohnefalsch-Richter (1850-1917) und die Archäologie Zyperns, the first volume of Studia Cyprologica Berolinensia, published in 2018. He and Will M. Kennedy translated its English and French texts into German1. His own chapters cover the family biography of Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, his wife Magda and Hermann Ohnefalsch-Richter (pp. 53-128), the year 1910 (pp. 325-350) and the sites where Ohnefalsch-Richter worked on Cyprus (pp. 351-384)7,8,9.

With Anna Cannavò he published, in 2020, the inscriptions from the Lang and Cesnola collections in the series From Paul Schröder's archives on Cyprus10. In 2021, with Matthias Recke and Wolfgang Filser, he published the fifth part, on photographs of the finds of Luigi Palma di Cesnola at Golgoi. Paul Schroeder visited Cesnola's excavations there in 1870 and 1873 and obtained photographs of the finds on the first visit, which he sent to Berlin4. With Margit Z. Krpata he edited the correspondence between Ohnefalsch-Richter and Heinrich Schliemann in 2022 and 202311.

In 2025 he argued that most of Ohnefalsch-Richter's work between 1878 and 1914 was done for British or Cypriot bodies, and that official Prussian sponsorship covered only Tamassos and Idalion in 1889-90 and 1894-95 and Rantidi in 19102. He is also co-editor, with Kennedy, of a 2024 volume on Idalion5.

Life and work

  1. 2018
    Co-edited (with Sophie G. Horacek) the volume Max Ohnefalsch-Richter (1850-1917) und die Archäologie Zyperns (Studia Cyprologica Berolinensia 1); redaction by Schmid, Horacek, Julia Preis and Anneke Keweloh-Kaletta; English and French texts translated into German by Schmid and Will M. Kennedy.

    Recke 2018Schmid 2025

  2. 2018
    His own chapters in that volume: Ohnefalsch-Richter family biography (pp. 53-128), Idalion (with Horacek, p. 239), the Nisou estate near Dali (p. 265), the catastrophe year 1910 (pp. 325-350), Ohnefalsch-Richter's field sites on Cyprus (pp. 351-384), and Ohnefalsch-Richter and Cypriot antiquities in the Berlin museums (p. 459).

    Recke 2018Given 2025

  3. 2020
    With A. Cannavò, 'From Paul Schröder's archives on Cyprus IV. The inscriptions from the Lang and Cesnola collections', CCEC 50, 157-193.

    Given 2025

  4. 2021
    With M. Recke and W. Filser, 'From Paul Schröder's archives on Cyprus. V. The first(?) photographs of Cesnola's Golgoi finds', CCEC 51, 143-181: Schröder visited Cesnola's Golgoi excavations in 1870 and 1873 and, on the first visit, obtained photographs of the finds and sent them to Berlin.

    Schmid et al. 2021, p. 9Given 2025

  5. 2022–2023
    With M. Z. Krpata, edition of the correspondence between Max Ohnefalsch-Richter and Heinrich Schliemann, CCEC 52-53, 211-266.

    Given 2025

  6. 2024
    Co-editor with W. Kennedy of the Idalion volume (Schmid, Kennedy 2024); contributor of chapters including 'The sanctuary Ohnefalsch-Richter never saw: the City Sanctuary in the Lower City South at Idalion' (pp. 121-136, as cited by another author).

    IdalionSchmid & Kennedy 2023, p. 28

  7. 2025
    Chapter arguing that most Ohnefalsch-Richter activity 1878-1914 was done for British or Cypriot bodies; only a few digs (Tamassos/Idalion 1889-90, 1894-95, Rantidi 1910) had official German (Prussian) sponsorship; compares Paul Schroeder (1870, 1873), Dörpfeld's 1890 tour, Furtwängler and Zahn, and tabulates MOR's excavations 1880-1895 by sponsor.

    Schmid 2025, p. 69

Connections

12 people
Max Ohnefalsch-RichterMatthias ReckeSabine SturmannChara TheotokatouAnna CannavòMargit Z. KrpataWolfgang FilserDaniela SummaCaroline HuguenotDaniel KnitterSophie Geraldine HoracekWill M. KennedyStephan G. Schmid
Scholarship

Scholarship

Colleagues & contacts

Sources

  1. 1.M. Recke (2018). Like Herrings in a Barrel: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter.
  2. 2.Stephan G. Schmid (2025). “Was there an official German interest in the archaeology of Cyprus between 1878 and 1914?”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960, 69-92. Leiden, Sidestone Press.
  3. 3.Michael Given (2025). “Over the landscape, in the landscape? Knowledge and agency in Cypriot archaeology, 1870-1910”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960. Leiden, Sidestone Press.
  4. 4.S. G. Schmid, M. Recke, W. Filser (2021). “From Paul Schröder's archives on Cyprus. V. The first(?) photographs of Cesnola's Golgoi finds”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 51, 143-181.
  5. 5.Stephan G. Schmid (ed.), Will M. Kennedy (ed.) (2023). Hellenistic and early Roman levels at Idalion. Brill.
  6. 6.M. Recke (2018). Like Herrings in a Barrel: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter.
  7. 7.S. G. Schmid (2018). “Max, Magda und Hermann Ohnefalsch-Richter: Beiträge zu biographischen Flickenteppichen”. »I don't know what am I myself, it is so very difficult to explain.« Max Ohnefalsch-Richter (1850–1917) und die Archäologie Zyperns, 53-128.
  8. 8.S. G. Schmid (2018). “Das Katastrophenjahr 1910 – Max Ohnefalsch-Richters letzter Zypern-Aufenthalt”. »I don't know what am I myself, it is so very difficult to explain.« Max Ohnefalsch-Richter (1850–1917) und die Archäologie Zyperns, 325-350.
  9. 9.S. Schmid (2018). “Max Ohnefalsch-Richters archäologische Arbeitsorte auf Zypern”. »I don't know what am I myself, it is so very difficult to explain.« Max Ohnefalsch-Richter (1850–1917) und die Archäologie Zyperns, 351-384.
  10. 10.A. Cannavò, S. G. Schmid (2020). “From Paul Schröder's archives on Cyprus IV. The inscriptions from the Lang and Cesnola collections”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 50, 157-193.
  11. 11.M. Z. Krpata, S. Schmid (2022). “'Hätten Sie nicht vielleicht die Absicht etwas auf Cypern zu unternehmen?'. Die Korrespondenz zwischen Max Ohnefalsch-Richter und Heinrich Schliemann”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 52-53, 211-266.