Gwendolyn Leick
Gwendolyn Leick (born 1951) is an Austrian British historian and Assyriologist who has written multiple books and encyclopedias in English about ancient Mesopotamia.
Life[]
She was born on 25 February 1951 in Oberaichwald, Austria to her parents Reginald and Herta Leick.[1] Her father was a physician and her mother was a social worker.[1]
Leick immigrated from Austria to the United Kingdom when she was twenty-five.[1] She says that she was "lured by the British Museum and the cosmopolitan life in London."[1] She married her husband Charlemagne Kanon on 31 July 2001.[1] She has two sons: George Sebastian Howell and Joseph Ibrahim Leick.[1]
Leick took up Olympic weightlifting at the age of 52 and is a three-time world champion.[2] She was the subject of a documentary, Gwendolyn (2017), directed by Ruth Kaaserer, which followed Leick during her preparations for the 2012 European Masters Weightlifting Championships in Azerbaijan.
Career[]
She completed her D.Phil. at Karl Franzens University in 1977.[1] Leick has stated that she chose to study Assyriology, because she "thought it was a difficult, arcane, and somewhat esoteric subject which would not lead to a normal career."[1] After discovering that she "was not particularly gifted to do epigraphical work", she devoted her career towards "communicat[ing] and transmit[ing] the results of Assyriological scholarship to a wider audience, to make the field more accessible."[1] To this end, she has written numerous encyclopedic dictionaries, which she regards as "the most user-friendly, concise, and straightforward way to access information on matters concerning the ancient Near East."[1]
She has briefly worked as a cultural tour guide.[3]
Bibliography[]
Despite her Austrian origins, her books are written in English,[1] which she has described as "the most accommodating, rich, and ecumenical of modern languages which allows so many people, regardless of their original language, to find a worldwide audience."[1] Her notable books include:[4][1]
- A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Architecture (published by Routledge 1988)
- A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology (published by Routledge 1991; 2nd edition published 1999)
- Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature (published 1994 by Routledge)
- Who's Who in the Ancient Near East (published 1999 by Routledge)
- Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City (published 2002 by Penguin Books)
- Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia (published 2003 by Scarecrow Press)
- The Babylonians: An Introduction (published 2003 by Routledge)
- General editor of The Babylonian World (published 2006 by Routledge)
- Tombs of the Great Leaders: A Contemporary Guide
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Leick, Gwendolyn 1951– - Dictionary definition of Leick, Gwendolyn 1951– - Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "Gwendolyn". www.takeonecinema.net. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- ^ "Gwendolyn Leick". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "Gwendolyn Leick". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
External links[]
- Austrian historians
- 20th-century Austrian women writers
- 21st-century Austrian women writers
- 20th-century historians
- 21st-century historians
- Austrian Assyriologists
- People from Villach-Land
- University of Graz alumni
- Academics of Chelsea College of Arts
- Women orientalists
- 1951 births
- Living people