Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) was a self-made man with a remarkable
aptitude for language and an excellent business mind. He was also the
founder of Aegean archeology, providing a factual base for the writing
s of Homer, which until then had been considered merely a collection o
f mythologic poems. During his life, Schliemann suffered from ear trou
ble, ultimately dying from an otogenic temporal lobe brain abscess. He
consulted many of the most famous 19th century otologists and was eve
ntually operated on by the famous Professor Schwartze. We present the
life and death of arguably the most famous man of his day as drawn fro
m a number of biographic sources and speculate on the ear pathology th
at ultimately lead to his demise.