Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge) Pinches

Born in 1856, Theophilus Goldridge Pinches became one of the early British Assyriologists. He first worked in his father's business as a die-sinker, then turned his amateur interest in cuneiform into a professional career when he joined the British Museum in 1878, where he later served as an assistant and curator before retiring in 1900.

Pinches is remembered for his work on Babylonian and Assyrian texts and for helping make the study of the ancient Near East more accessible. He wrote and edited a wide range of works, including The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia, and An Outline of Assyrian Grammar.

He died in Muswell Hill, London, on June 6, 1934. Modern references still describe him as a pioneer in Assyriology, and his name remains closely tied to the early publication and interpretation of cuneiform tablets.