Dr. ELIZABETH S. ETTINGHAUSEN

ETTINGHAUSEN Dr. ELIZABETH S. ETTINGHAUSEN A scholar of early Christian, Byzantine and Islamic Art, died in Princeton, NJ on June 12, 2016, weeks short of her 98th birthday. She had lived in Washington, DC and its Virginia suburbs from 1943 until 1967 when she moved to Princeton. Born in Vienna, Austria in 1918 and growing up in a medical family, she studied at the University of Vienna. With the rise of the Nazis, she and her family fled to Turkey where, at the University of Istanbul, she finished her PhD in Early Christian and Byzantine art in 1943. That same year she and her family immigrated by convoy to the United States. In this country she became a fellow at Harvard's Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, DC), where she examined the Byzantine architecture of Constantinople, focusing on glazed tiles. At Dumbarton Oaks she met and married in 1945 Dr. Richard Ettinghausen, then Curator of Near Eastern Art at the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution and later Consultative Chairman of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY) and Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Islamic Art at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Having predeceased her in 1979, he was a German-born, path-breaking scholar of Islamic art whose publications charted new directions for its study and fostered its current acclaim. In the 1950s while at the Middle East Institute in Washington, she arranged an exhibition for the US Information Agency on "The Influence of the Near East on American Design". Later she joined the Princeton Near Eastern Studies Program where she curated "The Near Eastern City since 1800" which was exhibited at the Princeton Art Museum. In the 1980s, as a member of the NYU-sponsored excavations at Aphrodisias in Turkey, she catalogued many objects from the Classical and Byzantine periods which were exhibited with her oversight at the Aphrodisias Museum. Even 18 months ago, she traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, presenting at international conferences on the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa on subjects related to Islamic art and architecture and the region's history and archaeology. In the US, she lectured at the Metropolitan Museum, NYU Kevorkian Center of Middle Eastern Studies and other universities including Princeton and Harvard. She led museum tours as a lecturer on similar subjects on the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa for the Smithsonian Institution, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Asia Society, Princeton Art Museum and Harvard Alumni Association. She held many honorary positions including Fellow for Life and member of the Islamic Art Department's Visiting Committee at the Metropolitan Museum, member of the Collections Committee of the Harvard Art Museum, Honorary Trustee of the Textile Museum (Washington, DC), and was a committee member of the American Turkish Society, German Archaeological Institute, Princeton Research Forum and Hajji Baba Club. She was past president of the Princeton Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Princeton Rug Society. For many years, she was a docent at the Princeton University Art Museum and a member of the Princeton chapter of the American Recorder Society. Throughout her life, she enjoyed her many friends around the world, interacting with all through her fluency in English, German, French, Turkish and Persian or by her knowledge of a few phrases in many other languages. Her conversations, usually centering on art, music or current events, were graced with her sense of humor and often her critique or her advice on the topic at hand. She is survived by her two sons, Stephen Ettinghausen, MD, of Rochester, NY, and Thomas Ettinghausen, of Abu Dhabi, UAE, as well as four grandchildren and five nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service is planned at the Princeton University Chapel at 6:30 p.m. on October 22, 2016 with a reception to follow at the Princeton Art Museum. At Elizabeth's request, donations may be made in her memory to her other passion - the environment - including the Audubon Society, The Wilderness Society and the Environmental Defense Fund.since 1800" which was exhibited at the Princeton Art Museum. In the 1980s, as a member of the NYU-sponsored excavations at Aphrodisias in Turkey, she catalogued many objects from the Classical and Byzantine periods which were exhibited with her oversight at the Aphrodisias Museum. Even 18 months ago, she traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, presenting at international conferences on the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa on subjects related to Islamic art and architecture and the region's history and archaeology. In the US, she lectured at the Metropolitan Museum, NYU Kevorkian Center of Middle Eastern Studies and other universities including Princeton and Harvard. She led museum tours as a lecturer on similar subjects on the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa for the Smithsonian Institution, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Asia Society, Princeton Art Museum and Harvard Alumni Association. She held many honorary positions including Fellow for Life and member of the Islamic Art Department's Visiting Committee at the Metropolitan Museum, member of the Collections Committee of the Harvard Art Museum, Honorary Trustee of the Textile Museum (Washington, DC), and was a committee member of the American Turkish Society, German Archaeological Institute, Princeton Research Forum and Hajji Baba Club. She was past president of the Princeton Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Princeton Rug Society. For many years, she was a docent at the Princeton University Art Museum and a member of the Princeton chapter of the American Recorder Society. Throughout her life, she enjoyed her many friends around the world, interacting with all through her fluency in English, German, French, Turkish and Persian or by her knowledge of a few phrases in many other languages. Her conversations, usually centering on art, music or current events, were graced with her sense of humor and often her critique or her advice on the topic at hand. She is survived by her two sons, Stephen Ettinghausen, MD, of Rochester, NY, and Thomas Ettinghausen, of Abu Dhabi, UAE, as well as four grandchildren and five nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service is planned at the Princeton University Chapel at 6:30 p.m. on October 22, 2016 with a reception to follow at the Princeton Art Museum. At Elizabeth's request, donations may be made in her memory to her other passion - the environment - including the Audubon Society, The Wilderness Society and the Environmental Defense Fund.