science · 25 April 1906 · 118 years ago
birth
Born 25 Apr 1906; died 27 Jan 1983 at age 76.
English social anthropologist who is known for his investigations of West African societies. He originally training in psychology, but in 1932 turned to anthropology—which is reflected in his later works on ancestor worship. He was primarily interested in family and kinship, and made field studies (1934–37) with the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana. His monographs on these studies laid the foundations for the theory of descent, a cornerstone of the “structural-functionalism” dominating the social anthropology of the 1950s and 60s. His major contributions in lineage theory, studies of religion and ancestor worship set the standard for all subsequent studies of African social organization. He was professor of social anthropology at Cambridge University (1950-73).
OnThisDay.net