Maria Ludwika Bernhard (August 6, 1908 – 1998) was a Polish classical archaeologist and a specialist in Greek Art. During the German Occupation of Poland in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Bernhard was living in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and was active in the Polish Resistance Movement. After the war, Bernhard was a Professor of Classical Archaeology at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In 1957 she became the chair of the Department of Classical Archaeology at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

. She was also curator of the Ancient Art gallery at the National Museum in Warsaw from 1945 to 1962.

Early life and education

Bernhard studied art history and classical archaeology at the French School at Athens from 1937 – 1938. She went on to obtain a PhD from Warsaw University in 1939, studying under Kazimierz Michałowski. Bernard was hired as Professor Michalowski's university assistant in 1934. In 1938, Bernhard was given the responsibility of organizing the Ancient Art Gallery at the National Museum of Warsaw. She would eventually go on to become the head of the Art Gallery.

World War II and the Polish resistance

The outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 brought Bernhard's career to a sudden halt. During the German Occupation of Poland, Bernhard was living in

and was active in the

Polish resistance movement in World War II In Poland, the Resistance during World War II, resistance movement during World War II was led by the Home Army. The Polish resistance is notable among others for disrupting German supply lines to the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front ...

. She was a liaison officer of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

and later she managed the VK Communications Department of the Warsaw Area Command ZWZ-AK. She continued to work at the museum during the war, where she safeguarded the art collections. In June 1940, Bernhard was arrested and sent to Pawiak, a German Gestapo prison.

Career after World War II

After she was released from prison at the end of the war, Bernhard worked as a Professor of Classical Archaeology at the

. At the same time, she worked as curator of the

Ancient Art Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the Advanced culture, advanced cultures of History of society, ancient societies with different Writing system, forms of writing, such as those of Ancient China, China, Ancient India, India ...

department at the National Museum in Warsaw. She was curator at the museum until 1962. In 1954, she was promoted to the chair of Classical Archaeology department at

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. She taught classes at the University until her retirement in 1978. Bernhard participated in excavations at Tell Edfu in Egypt in 1954 and in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

1956 - 1958. She supervised an expedition at

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

in 1967. Bernhard is primarily known for the Polish publication of four volumes of the ''History of Ancient Greek Art'', and for seven volumes of the ''Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum'': a scholarly discussion of the art collections at the National Museum in Warsaw.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhard, Maria Ludwika 1908 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Polish archaeologists Polish women archaeologists University of Warsaw alumni Polish women in World War II resistance Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Academic staff of Jagiellonian University National Museum, Warsaw Polish women curators Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland