Kramer, Samuel Noah (1897–1990)

Ukrainian-born US Sumerologist, author, and museum curator. His career as a leading authority on Sumerian language and literature began with a major expedition to Iraq in 1930–31, during which he excavated and translated Sumerian tablets. He became curator of the tablet collections at Pennsylvania's University Museum in 1950 as well as Clark research professor in Assyriology (1950–68). His many publications include History Begins at Sumer (1959) and The Cradle of Civilization (1967). Kramer was born near Kiev, Ukraine, and emigrated to the USA with his family in 1919. He was educated at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania, gaining his PhD in 1929.