Oscar Broneer; Found Poseidon Temple

ATHENS —  Oscar Theodore Broneer, the archeologist who discovered the sanctuary of Poseidon, has died at 97, the American School of Classical Studies in Athens announced last week.

The Swedish-born Broneer died at home Feb. 22, the school said.

Broneer, who immigrated to the United States when he was 19, first came to Greece in 1924 as a postgraduate student at the American School of Classical Studies. He received his doctorate from UC Berkeley in 1931.

In 1948, after the death of his first wife, Verna Anderson, he went to the University of Chicago, where he was professor of archeology from 1949 until his retirement in 1960.

He directed University of Chicago excavations from 1952 to 1967 at Isthmia, near Corinth, Greece, where the Pan-Hellenic sanctuary and temple of Poseidon were discovered. The sanctuary was famous for athletic competitions that were held there beginning in the 6th Century BC.

Broneer worked extensively in ancient Corinth and at the Acropolis.