Biography of franz boas
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Franz Boas, Father of American Anthropology
German American anthropologist Franz Boas was one of the most influential social scientists of the early twentieth century, noted for his commitment to cultural relativism and as a staunch opponent of racist ideologies.
Boas was arguably the most innovative, active, and prodigiously productive of the first generation of anthropologists in the U.S. He is best known for his curatorial work at the American Museum of National History in New York and for his nearly four-decade career teaching anthropology at Columbia University, where he built the first anthropology program in the country and trained the first generation of anthropologists in the U.S. His graduate students went on to establish many of the first and most highly regarded anthropology programs in the country.
Fast Facts: Franz Boas
- Born: July 9, 1858 in Minden, Germany
- Died: December 22, 1942 in New York City, New York
- Known For: Considered the "Father of A
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Franz Boas
“[Franz Boas] has its rewards, especially in its generous use of correspondence.”—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Review of Books
"Zumwalt's book is a testament to far-reaching, thorough, and careful archival work."—Diana E. Marsh, Journal of American Folklore
"Zumwalt has woven together a variety of materials from a range of sources into a comprehensive and coherent story."—Elliott Oring, Journal of Folklore Research
“Zumwalt leads us to know Franz Boas as never before, and we should be grateful. She gives us his engrossing love and life story across vast continents. She lets us walk with him into the classroom as well as into his home. She marvelously gives him voice, so we can discern his message for our time as well as in his.”—Simon J. Bronner, author of American Folklore Studies: An Intellectual History
“Rosemary Zumwalt has written a biography of Fran
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Franz Boas
German-born American anthropologist (1858–1942)
Franz Uri Boas[a] (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist.[22] He was a pioneer of modern antropologi who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology".[23][24][25] His work fryst vatten associated with the movements known as historical particularism and cultural relativism.[26]
Studying in Germany, Boas was awarded a doctorate in 1881 in physics while also studying geography. He then participated in a geographical expedition to northern Canada, where he became fascinated with the culture and language of the Baffin Island inuit. He went on to do field work with the indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest. In 1887 he emigrated to the United States, where he first worked as a museum curator at the Smithsonian, and in 1899 became a professor of antropologi at Columbia University, where he r