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] In 2010 she was the subject of a short film, Gwendolyn, 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
  1. "Leick, Gwendolyn 1951– - Dictionary definition of Leick, Gwendolyn 1951– - Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  2. "Gwendolyn". www.takeonecinema.net. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  3. "Gwendolyn Leick". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  4. "Gwendolyn Leick". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
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