1. Maria Reiche Grosse-Neumann was a German-born Peruvian mathematician, archaeologist, and technical translator.
27 Facts About Maria Reiche
1. 2.
Maria Reiche is known for her research into the Nazca Lines, which she first saw in 1941 together with American historian Paul Kosok.
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Maria Reiche was widely recognized as the curator of the lines and lived nearby to protect them.
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Maria Reiche received recognition as Doctor Honoris Causa by the National University of San Marcos and the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria in Lima.
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Maria Reiche helped gain national and international attention for the Nazca Lines; Peru established protection, and they were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
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Maria Reiche was born in Dresden on 15 May 1903 to Felix Reiche Grosse and Ana Elizabeth Neumann.
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Maria Reiche studied mathematics, astronomy, geography and foreign languages at the Technische Universitat Dresden.
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When World War II broke out that year, Maria Reiche stayed in Peru.
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Maria Reiche assisted him with making arrangements in the country, including a flight in 1941 by which she first saw the lines and figures of Nazca from the air.
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In 1940, Maria Reiche became an assistant to Paul Kosok, an American historian from Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York, who was studying ancient irrigation systems in Peru.
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Together he and Maria Reiche began to map and assess the lines for their relation to astronomical events.
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Later Maria Reiche found lines converging at the summer solstice and developed the theory that the lines formed a large-scale celestial calendar.
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Around 1946, Maria Reiche began to map the figures represented by the Nazca Lines and determined there were 18 different kinds of animals and birds.
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Maria Reiche found these to have a mathematical precision that was highly sophisticated.
15.
Maria Reiche theorized that the builders of the lines used them as a sun calendar and an observatory for astronomical cycles.
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Maria Reiche published her theories in the book The Mystery on the Desert.
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Maria Reiche believed that the large drawing of a giant monkey represented the constellation now called Ursa Major.
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Maria Reiche used the profits from the book to campaign for preservation of the Nazca desert and to hire guards for the property and assistants for her work.
19.
Maria Reiche sponsored construction of a tower near the highway so that visitors could have an overview of the lines to appreciate them without damaging them.
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Maria Reiche contributed to the lines becoming a World Heritage site in 1994.
21.
In 1977, Maria Reiche became a founding member of South American Explorers, a non-profit travel, scientific and educational organization.
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Maria Reiche was on the organization's advisory board and was interviewed for the South American Explorer on the lines' significance and importance.
23.
Maria Reiche once confessed that at age 40, she passionately fell in love with one of her students, but never said the name.
24.
Maria Reiche only said he was "a red-haired man with freckles".
25.
Maria Reiche used a wheelchair, suffered from skin ailments, and lost her sight.
26.
Maria Reiche died of ovarian cancer on 8 June 1998, at Fuerza Aerea del Peru Hospital, at Las Palmas Air Base in Santiago de Surco, Lima, Peru.
27.
Maria Reiche was buried with her sister, Dr Renate Maria Reiche-Grosse, near Nazca with official honors.