Heinrich Schliemann was born on the 6th of January 1822 in Neubukow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His father Ernst Schliemann served as a Lutheran minister while his mother Luise Therese Sophie died when Heinrich was nine years old.
On the day before digging stopped on the 15th of June 1873 Heinrich Schliemann discovered gold which he took to be Priam's Treasure trove. He later wrote that he saw the gold glinting in the dirt and dismissed workmen so he and his wife Sophia could excavate it themselves.
Heinrich Schliemann married Ekaterina Petrovna Lyschin on the 12th of October 1852 after divorcing her in 1869. He then married Sophia Engastromenos by archbishop on the 23rd of September 1869 following a divorce obtained in Indianapolis.
Heinrich Schliemann ploughed through layers of soil and everything in them without proper record keeping or mapping of finds. His rough excavation conclusory interpretation and appropriation of artifacts were criticized by contemporary antiquarians including Spyridon Comnos and Stephen Salisbury III.
Heinrich Schliemann died in Naples hotel room following day Christmas Day 1890 cause death cholesteatoma. His corpse transported by friends to First Cemetery in Athens interred in mausoleum shaped like temple erected in ancient Greek style designed by Ernst Ziller.