C. W. Ceram
Illustration — Original German cover of Gods, Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology (1949) Kurt Wilhelm Marek (20 January 1915 – 12 April 1972), best known by the pen name C. Ceram, was a German journalist, editor at Rowohlt Verlag, and author known for his popular works about archaeology. He chose to write using a pseudonym — spelling his own name backward as an ananym, and latinizing the K as C — to avoid association with his earlier work as a propagandist for the Third Reich. Ceram was born in Berlin.
Also recorded as Kurt W. Marek · C.W. Ceram · C.W.Ceram
C. W. Ceram

Bernhard Diener · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Full name
- Kurt Wilhelm Marek.
- Born
- 1915 · Berlin.
- Died
- 1972 · Hamburg.
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- journalist · writer · literary editor · literary critic
- Known for
- Gods and Graves and Scholars
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Original German cover of Gods, Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology (1949) Kurt Wilhelm Marek (20 January 1915 – 12 April 1972), best known by the pen name C. Ceram, was a German journalist, editor at Rowohlt Verlag, and author known for his popular works about archaeology. He chose to write using a pseudonym — spelling his own name backward as an ananym, and latinizing the K as C — to avoid association with his earlier work as a propagandist for the Third Reich. Ceram was born in Berlin.
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wikidata · Q60817 · wikipedia · C. W. Ceram
In this article
Biography
Biography
During World War II, he was a member of the Propagandatruppe. His works from that period include Wir hielten Narvik, 1941, and Rote Spiegel - überall am Feind. Von den Kanonieren des Reichsmarschalls – Red Mirrors - Everywhere in Contact with the Enemy. About the Gunners of the Reichsmarschall, 1943. In 1949, Ceram wrote his most famous book, Götter, Gräber und Gelehrte — published in English as Gods, Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology — an account of the historical development of archaeology. Published in 28 languages, Ceram's book eventually received a printing of more than 5 million copies, and is still in print. His very first article of this type was about epigraphy entitled: On the Decipherment of an Unknown Script and was published in the Berliner Illustrierte (1935). Other books by the author include The Secret of the Hittites (1956), March of Archaeology (1958) and The First American (1971), a book on ancient North American history. Using his actual name he published Yestermorrow: Notes on Man's Progress (1961); Hands on the Past: The Pioneer Archaeologists Tell Their Own Story (1966). Kurt Marek was responsible for the publication of A Woman in Berlin, the anonymous memoir of a German woman raped by Red Army troops. He died in Hamburg in 1972 at age 57. The Ceram Prize in archaeology is named after him.
The recorded working language is German. Works named in the authority record are Gods, Graves and Scholars.
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Berlin.
Birth place
Hamburg.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q60817: C. W. Ceram
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “C. W. Ceram”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Enzensberger, prefacio a Una mujer en Berlín, Anagrama, 2005, p. 8
- 2.Arqueología del cine, 1966, p. 2
- 3.Una mujer en Berlín, p. 319.
- 4.Una mujer en Berlín, p. 304.
- 5.Una mujer en Berlín, p. 320.
- 6.Una mujer en Berlín, p. 323.
- 7.http://www.babelio.com/auteur/-C-W-Ceram/212152, Vida.
- 8.W.G. Sebald, Sobre la hª natural de la destrución, Anagrama, 2005, p. 111
- 9.Una mujer en Berlín, p. 8.
- 10.En Una mujer en Berlín, p. 11.
- 11.Una mujer en Berlín, p. 313.
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Wikidata, structured authority record Q60817: C. W. CeramWikimedia Foundation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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