Heinrich Schliemann

Heinrich Schliemann (January 6, 1822 - December 26, 1890) was a German archaeologist who excavated Troy, Mycenae and Tiryns, lending material weight to Homer's Iliad and Vergil's Aeneid as reflecting historical events.

His career began before archaeology developed as a professional field, and so, by present standards, the field technique of Schliemann's work leaves a lot to be desired. His excavations were largely well done by the standards of his time.

He had a gift for languages and by the end of his life he was familiar with English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Latin, Russian, Arabic and Turkish apart from his native German.