Victor Wolfgang von Hagen

Victor von Hagen 1984 at Boggioli, Toscana

Victor Wolfgang von Hagen (St-Louis, Missouri, USA, February 29, 1908 – Italy, March 8, 1985) was an American explorer, archaeological historian, anthropologist, and travel writer who traveled in South America with his wife (Christine, later Silvia). Mainly between 1940 and 1965, he published a large number of widely acclaimed books about the ancient people of the Inca, Maya, and Aztecs.

In the early 1950s, he went for a two year exploration of Peru's ancient Inca roads and found the only surviving suspension bridge of this trail.

His daughter, Adriana von Hagen, is co-director of a museum in Leymebamba (Peru).

Works

• Alexander von Humboldt
• Off With Their Heads (1937)
• Ecuador the Unknown (1938)
• The Tsátchela Indians of Western Ecuador (1939)
• The Galapagos Islands and Charles Darwin: Notes on an Exhibition at the Bancroft Library (1939)
• Quetzal Quest - The Story of the Capture of the Quetzal, the Sacred Bird of the Aztec and the Mayas (1939)
• Jungle in the Clouds (1940)
• Riches of South America (New World Neighbors) (1941)
• Riches of Central America (New World Neighbors) (1942)
• Paper and Civilization (Scientific Monthly, vol. 57, 1943)
• Mexican Papermaking Plants (Journal of the New York Botanical Gardens, vol. 44, 1943)
• The Jicaque Indians of Honduras (1943)
• The Aztec and Maya Papermakers (1943)
• South America Called Them: Explorations of the Great Naturalists: La Condamine, Humboldt, Darwin, Spruce (1945)
• South American Zoo (1946)
• F.Catherwood 1799-1854 - Architect-Explorer of Two Worlds (1946)
• Maya Explorer: John Lloyd Stephens and the Lost Cities of Central America and Yucatán (1947)
• The Green World of the Naturalists - A Treasury of Five Centuries of Natural History in South America (1948)
• A Guide to Lima, the Capital of Peru (Guides to Peru) (1949)
• A Guide to Cusco (Guides to Peru) (1949)
• A Guide to Sacsahuaman: The Fortress of Cusco (Guides to Peru) (1949)
• Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands: A History (1949)
• Frederick Catherwood, Architect (1950)
• Huancayo and Ayacucho (His Guide to Peru) (1950)
• A Guide to Guayaquil (Guides to Ecuador) (1950)
• A Guide to St Vincent (1950)
• A Guide to Machu Picchu (Guides to Peru) (1952)
• The Four Seasons Of Manuela. A Biography. The Love Story of Manuela Sàenz and Simòn Bolivar (1952)
• Highway of the Sun (1955) - about an expedition of discovery of the ancient roads of the Inca
• A Guide to Cusco and Machu Picchu (Guides to Peru) (1956)
• Realm of the Incas (1957)
• The Aztec: Man and Tribe (1958)
• A Guide to Sacsahuaman: Ollontay-Tambo and Pisac (1958)
• The World of the Maya (1960)
• Maya, Land of the Turkey and the Deer (1960)
• The Ancient Sun Kingdoms of the Americas: Aztec, Maya, Inca (1961)
• The Incas: People of the Sun (1961)
• A Chronological Chart of Pre-Columbian Indian Cultures of the Americas and World Events (1962)
• The Desert Kingdoms of Peru (1965)
• Roman Roads (1966)
• Roads that Led to Rome (1967)
• The Gold of El Dorado: The Quest for the Golden Man (1968)
• The Incas of Pedro De Cieza De Leon (1970)
• Search for the Maya: The Story of Stephens and Catherwood (1973)
• The Germanic People in America (1976)
• The Royal Road of the Inca (1976)
• Jicaque (1977)
• The Sun Kingdom of the Aztecs (1977)
• Cuzco and Machu Picchu (1979) ABC Pocket Guide
• Capac ñan, Schicksalsstrasse der Inkas