Sophia Schliemann, born Sophia Engastromenou (Σοφία Εγκαστρωμένου) (12 January 1852 – 28 October 1932) was the Greek second wife of the businessman and amateur archaeologist

Heinrich Schliemann Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and an influential amateur archaeologist. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeolo ...

. She is known for posing for a photo while draped in gold jewelry from the

Treasure of Priam Priam's Treasure is a cache of gold and other artifacts discovered by classical archaeologists Frank Calvert and Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlık on the northwestern coast of modern Turkey. The majority of the artifacts are currently in the Pushki ...

Life

Sofia Engastromenou was born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

to a wealthy mercantile family. Her father was a "well-known Greek banker who at one time was the largest individual shareholder of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

". Her uncle, Bishop Theokletos Vimpos, was hired by

to tutor him in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and later tasked with finding a "black-haired Greek woman in the Homeric spirit" to become his wife. Presented with photos of three women, Schliemann selected the seventeen-year-old Sofia. They were married on 24 September 1869, and would go on to have two children: Andromache (1871–1962) and

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

(1878–1954). Sophia was only briefly present during the 1873 excavations of

Hisarlik Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destination, and was ...

, during which she was assaulted by a foreman. She departed the site after a month due to the unexpected death of her father. Schliemann later falsified the records to exaggerate Sophia's role in the excavations, and the story that the Treasure of Priam had been smuggled away from the site in Sophia's shawl. After her husband's death in 1890 Sophia continued to give lectures on his work and hosted gatherings in her Athenian residence, the Iliou Melathron. She edited Schliemann's autobiography and published it in 1892. Sophia spent the rest of her life as a member of Athenian high society and sponsor of charitable endeavors. In 1902, after witnessing the sufferings of Greek soldiers of the recent war with Turkey, she and a group of society ladies sponsored the construction of a sanatorium for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

patients in

Goudi Goudi (, since 2006; formerly Γουδί ) is a suburb on the eastern part of Athens, Greece and on the foothills of Mount Hymettus. History The area's name derives from the 19th-century Goudis (Γουδής) family, who owned an estate there. ...

. She served on its board of directors from 1919 until her death in 1932. The institution has since become the Sotiria Thoracic Disease Hospital, the largest pulmonary center in Greece. Sophia died on 27 October 1932 at the age of 80, 13 days after suffering a heart attack. She was buried with state honors in the family tomb at the

First Cemetery of Athens The First Cemetery of Athens (, ''Próto Nekrotafeío Athinón'') is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a prestigious cemetery for Greeks and foreigners. The cemetery is lo ...

next to her husband, whom she outlived by 42 years.

In literature and film

Sophia was a central character in

Irving Stone Irving Stone (born Tennenbaum; July 14, 1903 – August 26, 1989) was an American writer, chiefly known for his biographical novels of noted artists, politicians, and intellectuals. Among the best known are '' Lust for Life'' (1934), about the ...

's 1975 historical novel '' The Greek Treasure''. In the 2007 German television film ', Sophia Engastromenou was portrayed by the French actress

Mélanie Doutey Mélanie Doutey is a French actress. Life and career She is the daughter of filmmaker Alain Doutey and actress Arielle Séménoff. She appeared in Claude Chabrol's '' La Fleur du Mal'' and ''El Lobo'', the true story of a mole within the Basque ...

. She inspired the 2013 novel ''Sophia: A Woman's Search for Troy'' by Nancy Joaquim.

Writings

* Heinrich Schliemann; Sophia Schliemann (ed.): ''Heinrich Schliemann's Autobiography''. Leipzig, 1892.
Online version

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schliemann, Sophia 1852 births 1932 deaths 19th-century archaeologists 19th-century Greek people 19th-century Greek women 20th-century Greek people 20th-century Greek women Archaeologists from Athens Greek philanthropists Greek women philanthropists Greek socialites Greek women archaeologists People from Athens Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens Heinrich Schliemann