Henry George Fischer ’45

Henry died Jan. 11, 2006, in Newtown, Pa. He was 82.

After majoring in English, graduating magna cum laude, and publishing a volume of poetry with classmates, he taught English at the American University of Beirut, where he met his future wife and began a lifelong love of the Middle East and Egyptology.

After earning a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the curatorial staff of the Egyptian department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He was head of the department from 1964 to 1970, when a research chair was endowed for him, a position he held until retirement. He played a crucial role in bringing the Temple of Dendur to the museum, and his wide-ranging Egyptological publications emphasized the relationship between language and art.

As a student of early music, Henry played the sackbut, a forerunner of the trombone, and wrote its history. In retirement, he published numerous collections of formal verse. As a citizen, he helped found and guide Americans for Middle East Understanding, an organization promoting exchange in the interests of regional peace and justice.

The class expresses its sympathy on the loss of this outstanding scholar and classmate to Eleanor Teel Fischer, his wife of 53 years, and his daughter, Katherine F. Taylor.

The Class of 1945