Nancy Dupree, historian who spent decades preserving Afghanistan’s heritage, dies

She amassed a vast collection of books, maps, photographs and even rare recordings of folk music, all now housed at Kabul University.

An American historian who spent decades in Afghanistan working to preserve the heritage of the war-torn country has died following a long illness.

Nancy Hatch Dupree listens during an interview with The Associated Press at the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University in December 2014 . (AP)

An Afghan government statement said Sunday that Nancy Hatch Dupree, who first came to Afghanistan in 1962 and spent much of her life collecting and documenting historical artifacts, died in Kabul overnight at the age of 90.

She amassed a vast collection of books, maps, photographs and even rare recordings of folk music, all now housed at Kabul University, and wrote five guidebooks.

Many Afghans viewed Dupree as one of their own, and hundreds of people posted condolences on social media.

Afghanistan’s Tolo news website reports Dupree in 2007 established the Louis and Nancy Hatch Dupree Foundation which promotes research on Afghanistan’s history and culture and preserves historical documents