Larissa Bonfante is an American classicist, Professor of Classics

Classics

Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...

 at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 and an authority on Etruscan language

Etruscan language

The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...

 and culture

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

.

Born in Naples, 1929, daughter of professor Giuliano Bonfante , Bonfante studied fine arts and classics at Barnard College

Barnard College

Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...

, gaining her BA in 1954; she gained her MA in classics from the University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

 in 1957 and her PhD in art history and archaeology from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1966. Bonfante received the Gold Medal Award

Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America

The Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement is awarded by the Archaeological Institute of America in "recognition of a scholar who has made distinguished contributions to archaeology through his or her fieldwork, publications, and/or teaching."It is the Institute's highest award...

 for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement in 2007 from the Archaeological Institute of America

Archaeological Institute of America

The Archaeological Institute of America is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It has offices on the campus of Boston University and in New York City.The institute was founded in 1879,...

.

Selected publications

• Etruscan dress, 1975
• (with Giuliano Bonfante
  Giuliano Bonfante
  Giuliano Bonfante was an Italian linguistics scholar and expert on the language of the Etruscans and other Italic peoples. He was professor of linguistics at the University of Turin.Bonfante was born in Milan...
  
  ) The Etruscan language: an introduction, 1983
• Etruscan life and afterlife: a handbook of Etruscan studies, 1986
• Reading The Past Etruscan, 1990
• Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum
  Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum
  Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum is an international project with the goal to publish all existing Etruscan bronze mirrors. The first volumes were published in 1981 and since then over 25 fascicles have been produced.-Background:...
  
  USA 3, 1997
• (with Judith Swaddling) Etruscan myths, 2006

External links

• Faculty page, New York University