FAS’s Bonfante, Expert in Etruscan Civilization, Elected to American Philosophical Society

      Larissa Bonfante, a professor emerita in NYU’s Department of Classics, was elected to the American Philosophical Society, the Philadelphia-based organization announced this spring. Others elected this year include Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, composer Philip Glass, and University of Miami President Donna Shalala.
      Bonfante has published articles or books on Julian the Apostate, Roman triumphs, the Etruscan language, Etruscan mirrors and Poussin, and ancient dress. She has translated the plays of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim and curated the department’s collection of antiquities since 1973. Among her publications is Classical Antiquities at New York University, co-edited with Blair Fowlkes of NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. The work, a publication of NYU’s Center for Ancient Studies, is a catalogue of the most interesting objects from NYU’s archaeological collection, which includes pieces from Egypt, the Near East, Cyprus, Greece, South Italy, and Rome. The purpose of the catalogue is to re-contextualize the objects selected and to make the historic objects accessible to a larger audience.
       Members of the American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, have included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Edison.
       —James Devitt