Grave of Ernest Nash at Cimitero acattolico Rome

Ernest Nash (September 14, 1898, in Potsdam, Germany – May 18, 1974 in Rome, Italy) was a student of Roman architecture and pioneer of archaeological photography. Nash was born as Ernst Nathan in

Potsdam, Germany Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, but later changed his name to Nash when he was living in the United States between 1939 and 1952. He was a graduate of the University of Jena and had a law office in his native city of

. Nash first went to Italy on August 30, 1936, with the goal of documenting in photographs the ancient ruins of Rome,

Ostia Ostia may refer to: Places *Ostia (Rome), a municipio (also called ''Ostia Lido'' or ''Lido di Ostia'') of Rome *Ostia Antica, a township and port of ancient Rome *Ostia Antica (district), a district of the commune of Rome Arts and entertainment ...

, and

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

. The main reason for fleeing Potsdam was the institution of the racial laws by Adolf Hitler. He emigrated to the United States in 1939 but returned to Italy in 1952 to continue his work. He established the Fototeca Unione archive at the American Academy in Rome in 1957 and served as its director. Besides architectural photography he also produced a series of portraits of famous musicians, including

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

, while he lived in New York City. The Bartók photo is still used by '' The New York Times''. He was survived by Bertha, his third wife, two daughters, two grandchildren, and now two great-grandchildren. His first two wives have already died. Nash died in Rome in 1974. Nash's tomb is located in Rome's Campo Cestio cemetery.

Works

*''Roman towns. Photographs and text by Ernest Nash''. (New York: J. J. Augustin, 1944). *''Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' 2 vol. (1962).

Literature

*Radnoti-Alföldi, M.; Lahusen, M. C.: ''Ernest Nash - Ernst Nathan: Potsdam, Rom, New York, Rom'', Nicolai'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung; 2000. In German. .
A Short Biography of Ernest NashThe Urban Legacy of Ancient Rome: Photographs from the Ernest Nash Fototeca Unione Collection at Stanford University Library

References

External links

Ernest Nash
1898 births 1974 deaths People from Potsdam German classical scholars 20th-century American photographers Photographers from Brandenburg University of Jena alumni Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-photographer-stub