Napoleon Cordy
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Hannibal Napoleon David Alfred Thomas (“Nap”) Cordy (July 29, 1902 — January 30, 1977) was an amateur scholar in the field of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, who made some notable contributions in the 1930s and 1940s to the early study and decipherment of the Maya script, used by the pre-Columbian Maya of southern Mexico and northern Central America.
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[edit] Life and accomplishments
Cordy was born in 1902 in Cheltenham, England. His family emigrated to the United States in 1913, settling in Globe, Arizona.[1] The son of a coal and copper miner, Cordy briefly studied mining engineering at the University of Arizona. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1922.[2]
While working as an electrician at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from 1922-62, Cordy became fascinated with the Maya civilization, especially Maya hieroglyphs. He wrote a number of articles on the subject for various publications, and was a respected contributor to the journal The Masterkey, published by the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles. He died in Los Angeles in 1977, aged 74.[3]
His daughter, Alana Cordy-Collins, became an anthropologist/archaeologist, specializing in the Peruvian prehistory, especially the Chavin and Moche civilizations. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of San Diego. A cousin, Ross Cordy, is an anthropologist specializing in Polynesian civilizations. He is chief archaeologist for the state of Hawaii’s Historic Preservation Division and teaches at the University of Hawaii.
[edit] Publications
Cordy's publications include:[4]
- "Meaning of Maya day-names" (1931). The Masterkey 5 (5): pp.135–144.
- "Origin of the Tonalamatl" (1933). The Masterkey 7: p.80.
- "Cardinal point south in Maya language and glyph and its implications" (1936). Maya Research 3: pp.326–329.
- Cordy, N. (1946). "Examples of phonetic construction in Maya hieroglyphs". American Antiquity 12 (2): pp.108–117. doi:. ISSN 0002-7316.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- "Napoleon Cordy (1902 - 1977)". AskART: The American Artists Bluebook. (2000–2007). AskART. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
- Bibliografía Mesoamericana. FAMSI Research Materials. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
- California Arts and Architecture list (1932).
- Hughes, Edan Milton (1989). Artists in California, 1786-1940, 2nd edition, San Francisco: Hughes Publishing. ISBN 0-961-61121-9.
- Thompson, J. Eric S. (1959). "Systems of Hieroglyphic Writing in Middle America and Methods of Deciphering Them". American Antiquity 24 (4): pp.349–364. doi:. ISSN 0002-7316.
