Donny George Youkhanna (Arabic: دوني جورج, Syriac: ܕܘܢܝ ܓܘܪܓ ܝܘܚܢܢ) (October 23, 1950 – March 11, 2011)[1] was an Iraqi-Assyrian archaeologist, anthropologist, author, curator, and scholar, and a visiting professor at Stony Brook University in New York.

He authored two books on the structural design and stone industries of Tell es Sawwan, and gave several presentations on the current museum conditions and historical archaeological sites of Iraq.

Dr. George, who dropped his last name for professional purposes, was instrumental in recovering over half of the 15,000 Mesopotamian artifacts[4][5][6] looted from the National Museum in Baghdad during the invasion.

[7] He became the international face of the plight of ancient sites and artefacts in Iraq, many of which were stolen or destroyed during the invasion.

[8] In December 2008, Youkhanna was decisive in preventing the sale of royal Neo-Assyrian[9] earrings from the world-famous Nimrud treasures at Christie's art auction in New York.