David Moore Robinson (September 21, 1880, in

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

– January 2, 1958, in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

) was an American classical archaeologist credited with the discovery of the ancient city of

Olynthus Olynthus ( ''Olynthos'') is an ancient city in present-day Chalcidice, Greece. It was built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, Cha ...

. While he was a prolific writer and advisor, he also has gained notoriety due to his

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

of his students, the most notable being Mary Ross Ellingson.

Biography

Robinson earned his A.B. (1898) and Ph.D. (1904) at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. Robinson served on the faculty of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

(1905-1947). After his retirement, which also marked a falling out with Johns Hopkins, he moved to the Department of Classics at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

in Oxford, Mississippi. Many ancient objects from Robinson's collection were donated to the University of Mississippi and now constitute the David M. Robinson Memorial Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities. His collection of papyri and manuscripts were given in his will to colleague William Hailey Willis. In addition to the excavations at Olynthus, he participated in archaeological excavations at ancient

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

(1902) and

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

(1910), as well as Pisidian Antioch (1924). Among his students (he is credited with training 75 Ph.D. recipients and 41 M.A. recipients) were George M.A. Hanfmann, Eunice B. Stebbins, Allan Chester Johnson, George E. Mylonas, Paul Augustus Clement, Jr., James Walter Graham, Mary Ross Ellingson, Helen Henrietta Tanzer, and

William Andrew McDonald William Andrew "Bill" McDonald (April 26, 1913 – January 11, 2000) was a Canadian archaeologist. Educated at the University of Toronto and at Johns Hopkins University, he took part in the early excavations of Carl Blegen at the Mycenaean site k ...

. Robinson was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1934 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1936. He was awarded the Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix by King Paul of Greece in 1957.

Plagiarism

Robinson published his findings at Olynthus in a 14-volume series, ''Excavations at Olynthus'', most of which he wrote himself. However, it has since been proved that he plagiarized the work of his student Mary Ross Ellingson, and he has been accused of plagiarizing at least three other students as well. It has been shown that he published Ellingson's master's thesis and doctoral dissertation in volumes VII and XIV of ''Excavations at Olynthus'' as his own work.Kaiser, Alan. ''Archaeology, Sexism, and Scandal: The Long-Suppressed Story of One Woman's Discoveries and the Man Who Stole Credit for Them''. New York; London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.Gaca, Kathy L
"''Alan Kaiser, Archaeology, Sexism, and Scandal: The Long-Suppressed Story of One Woman's Discoveries and the Man Who Stole Credit for Them.''"
(Book review). ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'', Feb. 3, 2015.

Publications

* 1904. ''Ancient Sinopea.'' University of Chicago (dissertation).Internet Archive: University of Toronto - Robarts Library > Ancient Sinope : a dissertation https://archive.org/details/ancientsinopedis00robiuoft * 1924. ''Sappho & Her Influence on Ancient and Modern Literature'' * 1930. with C. G. Harcum and J. H. Iliffe. ''A Catalogue of the Greek Vases in the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, Toronto.'' Toronto: The University of Toronto Press. * 1929-1952. David M Robinson; George E Mylonas.
Excavations at Olynthus
'' (Johns Hopkins University studies in archaeology, no. 6, 9, 11-12, 18-20, 25-26, 31-32, 36, 38-39.) 14 v. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. * 1934-1938. with S. E. Freeman and M. McGehee. ''The Robinson Collection, Baltimore, Md.''('' Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. United States of America'' fasc. 4, 6-7.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. * 1951-1953. George E. Mylonas; David M. Robinson; Doris Raymond.
Studies presented to David Moore Robinson on his seventieth birthday
'' 2 v. Saint Louis: Washington University.

References

External links

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"The Long-Suppressed Story of One Woman’s Discoveries & the Man Who Stole Credit for Them"
Indiana Historical Bureau {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, David Moore 1880 births 1958 deaths American classical archaeologists University of Chicago alumni Classical scholars of Johns Hopkins University Classical scholars of the University of Mississippi 20th-century American archaeologists Members of the American Philosophical Society