Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell

Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell (née Lucy Myers Wright; March 20, 1845 – March 10, 1888) was an American classical archaeologist, historian, and missionary who studied ancient art. Mitchell was the first American to publish a book on classical sculpture and was one of the first women to study the field of classical archaeology.

Biography Mitchell was born on March 20, 1845, in Urumiah, Persia. Her parents were missionaries of the Nestorian Christians in Persia (now called the Assyrian Church of the East in Iran), Catherine Myers Wright She is the sister of classical scholar John Henry Wright. Mitchell attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) and left in 1864 with no degree when she was chosen to accompany her father on his return to his mission in Persia. After his death in 1865, she left missionary life. Classical archaeologist Stephen L. Dyson calls Mitchell's work "the first general American text on ancient art".