I received an email a little while ago containing sad news which I should share with the Egyptological community. Dr. Jorge Roberto Ogdon passed away on November 30 in Paraguay, where he was living with his family after working for many years in Argentina.
We never met in person or spoke, but we were close friends thanks to email. He was a truly sunny personality, kind, cheerful, helpful and always upbeat, even in the midst of devastating health problems. He was passionately devoted to Egyptology and never allowed obstacles to defeat him.
Dr. Ogdon had a very active mind and great curiosity. His studies and professional work included anthropology and archaeology of South American Native peoples as well as Egyptology. He was especially interested in ancient Egyptian religion, religious texts and ritual practices, on which he wrote prolifically in many journals including JARCE, BES, JSSEA, Serapis, DE and GM. He was extremely active in Egyptology in South America and a major contributor to Amigos de la Egiptología and other forums of the Spanish-speaking online Egyptological community. He was editor of Revista de Egiptología Isis and revived Apuntes de Egiptología as an online journal. He was working on volume 4 (2008) at the time of his death.
He lived to see the publication of his monograph La Protección de la Vida in Spain in the series Cuadernos de Egiptología Mizar.
Robert, as he often signed himself, was also an enthusiastic aficionado of the works of the American fantasy writer H. P. Lovecraft, a prolific author of horror tales in Spanish in the Lovecraft vein (many of which appeared on the Spanish-language Lovecraft website Nueva Logia del Tentáculo ), and a talented artist.
He enriched the world with his life and will be greatly missed.
~ Edmund S. Meltzer
For more than thirty years, Dr Robert Ogdon made his mark on Egyptology. As a specialist in Egyptian religion, especially during the Old Kingdom, he elucidated many difficult passages in the Pyramid Texts and other documents. His insights were always worth close examination, and he advanced our knowledge of the religious system of the Egyptians in many ways. This was because Robert was not only a scholarly Egyptologist, but a man with poetic sensitivity and a broad knowledge of comparative religion. His particular interest in shamanism inevitably deepened his understanding of Egyptian mysticism.
I never had the privilege of meeting Robert, but he and I were in close contact by e-mail for several years. I always felt a close affinity with his concerns and ideals as a fellow Egyptologist, student of religion, and independent scholar. Robert's enthusiasm and energy were always heartwarming.
Robert will be greatly missed. I am sure many others will join me in wishing him interesting travels in the other world, for which he prepared himself so well in this life.
~ Terence DuQuesne
Robert's courage remains an inspiration for me. In the far too short time that I knew him, Robert was a good friend to me, opening many doors for me and graciously allowing my voice to be heard. I deeply regret that I never had a chance to thank him properly and that we never had a chance to finish the fascinating discussion we were enjoying at the time of his passing. It was a great privilege to have known such a fine and brilliant man.
~ Joanne Conman
I met Jorge Roberto Ogdon thirty years ago and since then we were good friends. We frequently communicated and exchanged opinions on a number of subjects, besides Egyptology. We shared a common interest in H. P. Lovecraft.
He was an optimistic, energetic, positive man, free of any small or vindictive drives; in short, a basically good man and a very prolific Egyptologist who had many new ideas and took the trouble to share them with his colleagues from all over the world. Like the ancient Egyptians said, he will be remembered through his writings.
For some time he was the editor of an Egyptological popular magazine in Spain and I am sure that his work attracted many people to Egyptology.
All who knew him well will miss and remember him and I am sure his Ba will be hovering near us encouraging us in our efforts.
~ Juan José Castillos