Raissa Calza

Raissa Calza
Born
Raissa Samojlovna Gourevitch

(1894-12-28)28 December 1894
Odessa, Ukraine
Died24 January 1979(1979-01-24) (aged 84)
Rome, Italy
Burial placeOstia, Lazio, Italy
NationalityUkrainian
Other namesRaissa Lork
EducationÉcole du Louvre
Occupations
  • Ballet dancer
  • actor
  • archaeologist
Spouses
AwardsItalian Medal of Merit for Culture and Art, 1967

Raissa Samojlovna Calza (née Gourevitch; 15 December 1894 – 24 January 1979) was a Ukrainian dancer who became a prominent classical archaeologist of Roman portraiture. When she was young, she fled to Italy and France following the Russian Revolution.

After studying archaeology at the École du Louvre, she returned to Italy and began working at the Ostia Antica excavation site, where she met her third husband Guido Calza. She published many books on the archaeological sites in Ostia and was recognized for her efforts with a gold Italian Medal of Merit for Culture and Art on 2 June 1967. She died in 1979 and was buried at the Church of Sant'Ercolano near Ostia Antica.