Josef Keil

Josef Keil (1878 – 1963) was an Austrian historian, epigrapher and an archaeologist.

Keil was born in Reichenberg, now Liberec in northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic. He began his career in 1904 as a scientific secretary at the Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts in Smyrna, now İzmir, Turkey. He excavated archaeological sites in Asia Minor particularly in Lydia. He led the excavations in Ephesus. He was a professor at Greifswald from 1927 to 1936, Vienna from 1936 to 1945. From 1945, he became a Secretary General of Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, the Austrian Academy of Sciences until 1949. From 1949 to 1956, he was the director of the Österreichen Archäologischen Instituts with Otto Walter and Fritz Eichler. He died in Vienna in 1963.

Works

Numerous publications of inscriptions from Ephesus especially in Jahresheften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts.

• Ephesos. Ein Führer durch die Ruinenstätte und ihre Geschichte, Vienna, 1915
• Drei Berichte über Reisen in Lydien und weiteren Gebieten, Three reports over journeys in Lydia and other areas (with Anton von Premerstein), Vienna, 1908, 1911, 1914

Decorations and awards

• 1959: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
• 1962: City of Vienna Prize for Humanities

References

• G. Wlach, 100 Jahre Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut 1898-1998, the 100 years of the Austrian Archaeological Institute 1898-1998, Vienna 1998, p. 111