Edward Herbert Thompson |Edward Herbert Thompson| |Born||28
September 1857 |Died||May 11, 1935 Plainfield, New Jersey |Known
for||Maya civilization| |Influences||John Lloyd Stephens| Edward
H. Thompson was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Initially
inspired by the books of John Lloyd Stephens, Thompson devoted
much of his career to study of the Maya civilization. In 1879,
Popular Science Monthly published an article by Thompson in
which he argued that the ancient Mayan monuments, which he had
never seen except in books, were proof of the lost continent of
Atlantis--an opinion which his later researches would change.
The article attracted the attention of Stephen Salisbury III,
scion of an American railroad baron and a benefactor of the
American Antiquarian Society, who persuaded Thompson to move to
Yucatán to explore the ruins on his behalf. Senator George
Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts agreed to help subsidize
Thompson's efforts by recommending him for the post of United
States consul to Yucatán. Thompson ar