Napoleon Cordy
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.
Life and accomplishments[edit]
Cordy was born in 1902 in Cheltenham, England. His family immigrated 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 was also a founding member of the Southwestern Anthropological Association.[3] Cordy died in Los Angeles in 1977, aged 74.[2]
His daughter, Alana Cordy-Collins, became an anthropologist/archaeologist, specializing in the Peruvian prehistory, especially the Chavin and Moche civilizations. She was a professor of anthropology at the University of San Diego. A cousin, Ross Cordy, is an anthropologist specializing in Polynesian civilizations. He was chief archaeologist for the state of Hawaii's Historic Preservation Division and teaches at the University of Hawaii.
Publications[edit]
Cordy's publications include:[4]
- "Meaning of Maya day-names". The Masterkey. 5 (5): 135–144. 1931.
- "Origin of the Tonalamatl". The Masterkey. 7: 80. 1933.
- "Cardinal point south in Maya language and glyph and its implications". Maya Research. 3: 326–329. 1936.
- "The Maya Year at the Inauguration of the Calendar, MS.740". Braun Research Library Collection, Autry National Center, Los Angeles. 1940.
- Cordy, N. (1946). "Examples of phonetic construction in Maya hieroglyphs". American Antiquity. 12 (2): 108–117. doi:10.2307/275343. ISSN 0002-7316. JSTOR 275343. S2CID 163534642.
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- "Napoleon Cordy (1902 - 1977)". AskART: The American Artists Bluebook. AskART. 2000–2007. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
- "Bibliografía Mesoamericana". FAMSI Research Materials. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
- California Arts and Architecture list (1932).
- Hughes, Edan Milton (1989). Artists in California, 1786-1940 (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Hughes Publishing. ISBN 0-9616112-1-9.
- Thompson, J. Eric S. (1959). "Systems of Hieroglyphic Writing in Middle America and Methods of Deciphering Them". American Antiquity. 24 (4). American Antiquity, Vol. 24, No. 4: 349–364. doi:10.2307/276597. ISSN 0002-7316. JSTOR 276597. S2CID 163337656.