Michael E. Marotta submitted this remembrance of his friend Ann M. Zakelj. Thank you. -Editor
Ann came to numismatics late in life bringing a special passion supported by many years of world travel, a facility for languages, broad reading,
keen insight, and deep reflection.
We met in Cleveland, Ohio, 1996, when I was a contractor with the U. S. Department of Defense Financial Accounting Service (DFAS). When she handed me her
card, I read her name as "Za- kelly." She corrected me. "Zay-kell," she said. "The j is silent." In my cubie, I had a picture of the Greek goddess Eirene
carrying the infant Ploutos. Most people assumed that it was the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, but she identified it correctly. It was the beginning of a
beautiful friendship. We attended the ANA conventions in Cleveland (1997), Cincinnati (1998), New York (2002), and Pittsburgh (2004).
Ann was very active in her church, St. Vitas, and for them, and others, she crafted proscenia, and other decorations. So, when Ann began collecting ancient
coins, her aesthetic judgment always brought her the best examples for the price. Her primary interest was for classical Greek, but she also worked hard on the
Severan dynasty, especially the women. Eye-appeal was more important than completeness; and she was an eclectic gatherer, rather than a focused hunter.
In a casual conversation, we agreed that the coins of Alexander the Great probably portrayed Alexander, and we set out to prove it. We spent over 18 months
assembling research, meeting in restaurants, and exchanging information in emails. We published "Portraits and Representations of Alexander the Great," in
The Celator, Vol 16., no. 7, (July 2002).
Ann loved to travel and had been to every continent but preferred Europe, especially the Balkans where she had many cousins. Her easy skill with languages
served her well. On Rhodes, they thought she was Turkish. In Istanbul, her accent sounded Greek. But it was never a problem because she had a winning
personality. She was a natural extrovert and probably got the Sphinx to talk. Ann was born in Austria on March 10, 1947, and passed away peacefully among
family, on February 13, 2019.
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor
at this address: whomren@gmail.com
To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
All Rights Reserved.
NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster
|