Wilhelmina Mary Feemster Jashemski (July 10, 1910 – 24 December 2007) was a noted scholar of the ancient site of Pompeii

Pompeii

The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...

, where her archaeological investigations focused on the evidence of gardens and horticulture in the ancient city.

Jashemski studied at York College, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Chicago. She began teaching in 1935 and served on the faculty of the University of Maryland

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

 (1946–1980).

Jashemski's work at Pompeii, Boscoreale

Boscoreale

Boscoreale is a comune and town in the province of Naples, Campania, located in the Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio under the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, known for the fruit and vineyards of Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio...

, and Oplontis

Oplontis

Oplontis was a town near Pompeii, in the Roman Empire. On August 24, AD 79, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it under a deep layer of ash. It is today the location of the Villa Poppaea, the villa of the wife of Emperor Nero, which was excavated in the mid-20th century and is open to the...

 began in 1961 and continued until 1984. She also worked on the excavation of the gardens of the villa of Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

 at Tivoli

Tivoli, Italy

Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

. Jashemski is viewed as a pioneer of the field of garden archaeology in the ancient Mediterranean. She was awarded the Gold Medal

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 by 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,...

 in 1996, after the publication of the second volume of her work The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius.

Her husband was the physicist Stanley A. Jashemski who photographed many of her excavations for publication.

Works

• The origins and history of the pro-consular and the propraetorian imperium to 27 BC (Chicago, 1950).
• with E. B. MacDougall Ancient Roman gardens Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on the History of Landscape Architecture (7th : 1979).
• The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius 2 vol. (Caratzas, 1979, 1993).
• [festschrift] Robert Curtis ed. Studia Pompeiana & classica in honor of Wilhelmina F. Jashemski 2 v. (Caratzas, 1989).
• A Pompeian herbal : ancient and modern medicinal plants (Texas, 1999).
• ed. with Frederick Meyer The natural history of Pompeii (Cambridge, 2002).