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Alice KoberAmerican historian, archaeologist, classical philologist.
Date of Birth: 23.12.1906
Country:  USA |
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Biography of Alice Kober
Alice Kober was an American historian, archaeologist, and classical philologist. She was known for her extensive work in deciphering the most recent version of the Cretan script, Linear B. Kober compiled a card index with approximately 186,000 cards, on which she transcribed various variations of the Cretan script symbols and compared words with potentially common roots but different endings. Her work allowed for the definitive systematic organization of all known information about the Cretan script and the preliminary grammatical analysis of the inscriptions. Based on her work, Michael Ventris constructed a table of possible vowel and consonant correspondences for the Cretan script symbols, which ultimately led to the decipherment in 1952. Unfortunately, Alice Kober passed away from cancer before this breakthrough.
Early Life and Education
Alice Kober was born in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. She grew up in a modest family of Hungarian immigrants, Franz and Katarina Kober, with her younger brother William. She attended the Hunter College High School and placed third in a senior class competition in 1924, earning a scholarship of $100 per year for four years. Kober went on to study at Hunter College and graduated with honors. In 1928, she became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. After completing her undergraduate studies, Kober earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1932. She taught history and Latin at Brooklyn College and was proficient in several languages. In order to assist visually impaired students, Kober translated educational materials into Braille.
Professional Career and Contributions
Alice Kober never married and lived with her mother in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. She was known to be a heavy smoker. In 1946, Kober received a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation, which allowed her to take a break from teaching and focus on deciphering Linear B. In 1947, she traveled to England to copy existing images of "Minoan tablets" held by John Myres. Later, Kober assisted Myres in preparing the publication of "Scripta Minoa II," although her views on the classification of the "Minoan tablets" differed from Myres'. Kober returned to teaching at Brooklyn College in 1947, but during the vacation in 1948, she visited Myres again in Oxford. In the summer of 1949, Kober's health significantly deteriorated, and she underwent surgery. She spent several weeks in the hospital that fall. In January 1950, Brooklyn College appointed her as an adjunct professor, but she never returned to teaching. Alice Kober passed away on May 16, 1950, at the age of 43.
