MORE ON ROBERT HECHT

But another thing shall not be forgotten: the Clain-Stefanellis owe to Bob Hecht their rescue to secure America. I allege part of my obituary of Elvira Clain-Stefanelli based on a longer interview with her:

"After the war the Clain-Stefanellis moved to Rome taking employment together at Santamaria company. ... But even Italy did not offer a secure home in the long run. America and Russia had agreed that Russian citizens had to return home. The area where Vladimir was born had become part of Russia in the meanwhile. Thus there was danger of being deported."

With the help of a clever Italian clerk the family Klein, whose name virtually asked for investigation, became the family Clain-Stefanelli. "Under this name both Clain-Stefanellis left for the United States of America with the aid of their American friend Bob Hecht."

Bob Hecht died being a representative of a passed epoch of antiquities trade. Characters like him did not contribute to this trade sector's good reputation. Nevertheless we who have been born later, should beware of judging them hastily. Those were other times with other conceptions and ideals. Our current ethical and moral claims cannot be transferred to the past. Whoever acts in this way forgets that even human conceptions of right and wrong are subjected to a continuous change.

To read the complete article, see: Bob Hecht (1919-2012) (www.coinsweekly.com/en/page/4?&id=1041)

Robert E. Hecht, an American expatriate antiquities dealer who skipped in and out of trouble for much of his career, weathering accusations that he trafficked in illicit artifacts, including a 2,500-year-old Greek vase that he sold for more than $1 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, died on Wednesday at his home in Paris. He was 92.

An urbane world traveler with an often coy and seemingly imperturbable manner, Mr. Hecht began running afoul of the authorities in the early 1960s, when he was accused of dealing in looted art in Italy and smuggling coins out of Turkey.

"He was, if not exonerated, never proven guilty," Elizabeth Hecht said in an interview on Thursday. "In 13 years they couldn't find anything to pin on him. So I say he was innocent."

"Bob was always someone who could let things fall off his shoulders, like a duck," Elizabeth Hecht said when asked how her husband had borne such persistent and intense scrutiny by the authorities. "What he didn't want to know about, he was able to ignore. He was very good at that."

To read the complete article, see: Robert Hecht, Antiquities Dealer, Dies at 92 (www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/arts/design/robert-hecht-antiquities
-dealer-dies-at-92.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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